This is part of Reason's 2025 summer travel issue. Click here to read the rest of the issue.
It's little surprise that many libertarians count The Lord of the Rings among their favorite stories.
J.R.R. Tolkien's tales of bravery and camaraderie in the face of an evil lust for control have shaped many libertarian world-views. Though many adaptations have been made in the decades since Tolkien published The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, no films brought these beloved books to life as spectacularly as Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies, which owe a great deal of their visual power and emotional resonance to the natural beauty of New Zealand, where much of the trilogy was filmed.
