The Hunt for Gollum is a 2009 British fantasy fan film based on the appendices of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1954–55 book The Lord of the Rings.

[1][2][3] The film is set in Middle-earth, when the wizard Gandalf the Grey fears that Gollum may reveal information about the One Ring to Sauron.

The wizard Gandalf fears that Gollum may reveal information about the One Ring to the Dark Lord Sauron, and sends the Ranger Aragorn, heir of Isildur, on a quest to find him.

The story opens with a brief prologue about the ring's disappearance before cutting to Aragorn (Adrian Webster) and Gandalf (Patrick O'Connor) at an inn (presumably the Prancing Pony) in Bree.

Gandalf explains his concerns about Gollum's knowledge of the Ring falling into enemy hands, and asks Aragorn to find the creature with his tracking skills.

After initially having little luck, Aragorn crosses paths with a distant kinsman named Arithir (Arin Alldridge), a fellow Ranger of the North, who reports hearing rumours about a creature that has been stealing fish from open windows in local villages; the movie cuts to a scene of Gollum doing just that, and eating his ill-gotten gain atop the roof.

After a short but intense duel, the Ringwraith flees from a bright light created by the Elves of Mirkwood, who recapture Gollum and guide Aragorn back to their fortress.

The director Chris Bouchard said, "Peter Jackson's individual look was a big inspiration, it's been an adventure for us to play in that world that he created.

[14] The visual effects crew was headed by Adam Thomas while Maciej Kuciara supervised the Digital Matte works.

[15] Alban Kasikci, Brett Frame, Daren Horley, Dennis Fraser, Corey Butler, Guillaume Benamout, Ismail Kemal Ciftcioglu, Joe Kormendi, Hesam Bani-Eghbal, Kaustav Sinha, Michael James, Nick Marshall, Tiberius Viris and Vladimir Teneslav were Matte Painters.

Fred von Lohmann, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told National Public Radio that the high quality of the film and its global reach via the internet could potentially create legal issues.

A blogger for Entertainment Weekly said that based on the trailer, the film "looks awesome", and added that the filmmakers "seem to have nailed a passable low-budget version of Peter Jackson's best-epic-movie-ever visuals.

'"[21] On National Public Radio's All Things Considered, reporter Laura Sydell said, "The Hunt for Gollum looks just like the Hollywood version.