How Tolkien’s WWI Quest in the Trenches Inspired ‘Lord of the Rings’

The movie "Tolkien" is out July 23 on Digital (with Blu-ray and DVD releases to follow on Aug. 6), and we've got a clip from the film.

"Tolkien" follows the early life of author and professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien during his school years and subsequent service for Great Britain during World War I. "Tolkien" makes the convincing case that the young man's wartime experiences were a critical influence on his later fantasy masterpiece "Lord of the Rings."

Nicholas Hoult (best known as Beast from the X-Men movies and Nux from "Mad Max: Fury Road") portrays Tolkien. In our clip, he's combing the trenches as he searches for his school friend Geoffrey Bache Smith. That quest for Smith has strong echoes of the future quests in "Lord of the Rings."

Lily Collins co-stars as Tolkien's future wife, Edith Bratt. Finnish director Dome Karukoski directs from a screenplay by David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford. The home video release includes an audio commentary from Karukoski, deleted scenes and additional Karukoski commentary on those deleted scenes.

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