Gandalf’s memorable showdown with the Balrog in The Lord of the Rings gets reimagined in a new piece of fan art. Based on the beloved fantasy novels by author J.R.R. Tolkien, Peter Jackson’s first movie in the series was released in 2001. While Ian McKellan’s Gandalf plays an important role in all three movies, one of his most epic moments comes in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring when he fights the Balrog in the Mines of Moria.
Now, epic new The Lord of the Rings art shared by artist David Ribet on Twitter depicts Gandalf’s showdown with the Balrog from a new angle in a style reminiscent of a movie poster. Check out the art below:
The art retains McKellen’s look from Jackson’s first movie, including his battle stance with both Glamdring and his staff in-hand. The Balrog, too, uses the design from Jackson’s movie, but is depicted in even more detail than what is shown in the film.
Why Fellowship Of The Ring’s Balrog Is So Memorable
Throughout the epic tale, Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, and Gandalf encounter all manner of dark creatures, but the Balrog remains one of the most memorable. As in Tolkien’s book, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring makes a number of crucial decisions that contribute to the Balrog’s overall effectiveness as enemy.
As horror movies often prove, sometimes not showing audiences the monster is even scarier than when it actually pops up on-screen. The Balrog is teased relatively early on during Fellowship of the Ring‘s Moria sequence, but it doesn’t actually show itself until quite a bit of time has passed. The creeping light and heat from the beast’s body scares away an entire horde of orcs, and Gandalf’s reaction to the light creeping down the hall tells audiences all they need to know about the monster lurking out of sight.
After the anticipation builds and fear grows, the Balrog is finally unveiled. Instead of clearly showing the monster, however, the heat and smoke generated from its flaming body keep much of it obscured or distorted, a decision that has allowed the sequence’s visual effects to hold up remarkably well. In addition to the fear from the Balrog’s build-up and unveiling, it is also memorable because of its actions, with the beast responsible for seemingly killing Gandalf, which remains one of The Lord of the Rings trilogy’s most powerful moments.
