Reviews from Customers
A triumph of masterful moviemaking.
The third and final instalment of the Lord of The Rings trilogy deserves every accolade that's been heaped upon it, and more. It's unbelievably real, brutally honest and instantly memorable. This is a film that will appeal to all types of moviegoers, male or female, young and old, Tolkien fans and non-fans alike.
The story was well written and executed considering the sprawling and meandering nature of the book. The strategy of placing Shelob here instead of in The Two Towers was a good one and helped enhance an otherwise lopsided war movie.
Three scenes are particularly memorable. Firstly, the aforementioned Shelob's lair where Frodo and Sam battle the giant spider. Secondly, The Battle at Minas Tirith. If you thought Helm's Deep was good, get ready for a jaw dropping spectacular battle scene. Lastly but certainly not the least, a flashback about the origins of Smeagol and how he deteriorates into Gollum. This is an unscheduled and unexpected diversion but it allows us to fully appreciate the duality of the character and provides us with some room to develop a degree of empathy for the creature.
Acting wise, I found myself rooting for Sam most of the time. Sean Astin's performance shines above all the rest. Samwise Gamgee's bravura and dedication to his comrade makes up for Elijah's confused and weakened Frodo. Oh and Gollum. I could go on and on about how good Andy Serkis and the CGI team were in bringing to life this awesomely tortured creature but I'll let you fill in the blanks here.
Finally, here are a few tips to maximise your enjoyment of this movie or rather event of the year.
1. Go watch the first two instalments back to back before going to see ROTK. It helps to jog your memory about the main characters and brings you up to date about where they're coming from. ROTK does not waste time reminding you about anything. It races ahead relentlessy from the word go and doesn't slack off till the end. So you're expected to remember and know who and why the characters are the way they are.
2. Read some of the more reliable reviews about the movie first, either online or in print. Spoilers aside, they actually help illuminate some of the more rather confusing plotlines and side developments which is not fully elaborated in the show. (Where's Saruman?) You can't fault Peter Jackson for this. It's already 3 1/2 hours long and he already had chopped off more than an hour from the initial rough cut.
3. Bring a hankie. "Sometimes tears are not itself evil".
4. Lastly, start saving money to get that extended 4 disc version next year. I know I will.
The new "King" of film
The heavily-anticipated film adaptions of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" began in 2001 with THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, a truly extraodinary film. In 2002, it was continued with THE TWO TOWERS, which topped THE FELLOWSHIP. And now, in 2003, we have THE RETURN OF THE KING - a film which rules all others. Here, ladies and gentlemen, is a serious candidate for best movie ever made.
The first part of the film is actually taken from the novel of "The Two Towers". We find Pippin (Billy Boyd) being taken to Gondor by Gandalf (Ian McKellen), who hopes to prevent war there by counselling stubborn, angry Denethor (John Noble). At the same time, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) lead King Theoden's (Bernard Hill) men into battle.
Meanwhile, as they approach the outskirts of Mordor, Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam's (Sean Astin) friendship is tested as the scheming Gollum (voice of Andy Serkis) leads the two into a trap. All looks dark for the forces of good.
RETURN OF THE KING goes beyond words. Adventurous story, terrific acting, perfect direction, flawless visuals - it is a perfect film. Peter Jackson has done an outstanding job of bringing Tolkien's beloved fantasy tales to the screen. I can think of no one who could do it better.
Howard Shore once again contributes the film's score. He creates here music that is more beautiful than the previous two films', much less forceful, with the exact feeling of hopeless surrounding it as is with the movie's characters. This is almost certainly Shore's best score.
The acting is terrific, better than the first films, if such a thing is possible. We see more of the characters which were paid lesser attention to in the previous installments. Gollum's character is almost completely re-done.
There is no doubt that about 90% of the people who see this movie will shed a tear or too. There are some dramatic, emotional moments to the film, but most of the crying going on will just be because we've come to the end of a magnificent, beautiful journey - which has become one of the most important in cinematic history.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING is a triumph of modern moviemaking. It goes past the previous two, seemingly unbeatable films to become a serious candidate for the greatest film of all-time. It is sheer brilliance. The Lord of the Rings has been a beautiful experience. It is sad it has finally come to an end. At least it has an ending fit for a king.
The crowning touch to an amazing trilogy!!
The only bad thing I can say about this movie is that it's the last one. Oh yeah, and it isn't the extended version DVD. I had to buy this movie even though I knew a better version was coming out before Christmas; it's just too good to wait that long. Although I loved the movie, I did have one complaint: the whole Saruman plotline is wrapped up in a really odd way. (Peter Jackson promises that this will be rectified in the extended version.) The extras on this DVD aren't anything special, but I don't buy DVDs for the extras. If you loved the first two Lord of the Rings movies, you'll definitely love this one too!!
