Stephen Colbert has long been a fan of The Lord of the Rings film series. As the 20th-anniversary of The Fellowship of the Ring approaches on December 19th, he made sure to let The Late Show audience know that he thinks the trilogy doesn’t get the respect it deserves.
Joined by his bandleader and all-around music master Jon Batiste, Colbert tapped the LotR cast, along with rap mainstays Method Man and Killer Mike, for a hip-hop celebration of what he called “the greatest trilogy in movie history.”
“Harry Potter is getting a giant 20th-anniversary special with a full cast reunion. Seriously? Harry Potter is fine, but it’s no Lord of the Rings,” Colbert exclaimed to open the segment. “I mean, Dumbledore couldn’t take a Balrog. Dumbledore was killed by a high school chemistry teacher! So I think Peter Jackson‘s towering achievement deserves the same kind of treatment.”
Donning a classic white fur Kangol hat and an oversized parka, Colbert and Batiste launched into a four-plus minute rap that took shots at nearly every movies series imaginable. “It’s the number one trilogy, the number one trilly/Try to deny and you just sound silly/Worldwide gross of almost three billy/16 times what they made on Free Willy.”
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Batiste noted that The Godfather doesn’t have a single elf while Colbert told Star Wars‘ Jar Jar Binks, “go ahead and suck my… ring.” Lord of the Rings characters then began to make appearances, with Dominic Monaghan (“Lil Merry), Billy Boyd (“Big Pippin'”), and Sean Astin (“$amwi$e G”), each taking turns to hype the film before Elijah Wood (“Frodo Motha F%#$@&’ Baggins”) took a shot at noted LotR super fan, Anna Kendrick (“That’s right Anna Kendrick, Pitch Perfect ain’t sh!t”).
After Colbert gave his best Gandalf “You shall not pass” impression, he threw it over to Method Man, who dunked on “pretenders” like Mad Max, Casino Royale, and Toy Story. Killer Mike’s verse took another shot at Anna Kendrick, who stood in the frame, looking perturbed in her kitchen. He continued linking bar after bar while lighting films like Indiana Jones (“and the Temple of Boring”), Back to the Future, Mighty Ducks, and Batman: The Dark Knight on fire. Orlando Bloom (Legolas) dropped a few lines followed by Hugo Weaving (Elrond) rapping in Elvish before the whole cast joined in for one more chorus.
Check out the entire The Lord of the Rings rap below and head here to watch full episodes of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
The Lord of the Rings 20th Anniversary Rap