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The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King (Widescreen Edition) Customer Reviews (16 - 18 of 70 Reviews)
Concludes my favorite movie
'The Lord of the Rings' is a larger than life tale. The story is reminiscent of ancient legends, and the movies are similar to films of another era. Few movies successfully use sweeping battles and tearful warriors to evoke the brutal violence and manly displays of emotion in 'Beowulf' and 'The Iliad'. Quests on this scale require grandness on every level. Heroism, affection, nobility, and peril are amplified. Like the other two films, the final installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King, depends on viewers to have a high tolerance for sentimentality and bloodless warfare. If they do, they are entitled to a rendition of J. R. R. Tolkien's novel that is generally faithful to the book, often moving, and always impressive.
The third movie in 'The Lord of the Rings' involves two hobbits (humanlike creatures half the size of most men), Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and Sam Gamgee (Sean Astin), who are traveling deep into enemy territory to destroy a ring that holds the essence of the dark lord Sauron. Gollum (Andy Serkis), a creature distorted by his obsession with the ring, accompanies the two as a guide, while plotting how to get the ring for himself. Elsewhere the titular Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) helps Theodon (Bernard Hill), King of Rohan, prepare his men for battle against Sauron's armies, and Gandalf (Ian McKellen), the White Wizard, rides to Gondor to warn them of Sauron's plans to attack. The film repeats only a few events from the previous two movies.
A masterful score enhances the power of the movie by elaborating on themes in the other films and introducing a few new lovely and stirring melodies. The music climaxes in the spectacular conclusion that is a culmination of friendship, courage, and perhaps total annihilation of evil.
Acting could be considered excellent or melodramatic; certainly it is suitable to the movie. The scenery and special effects are still breathtaking, though there seems to be less attention to and reliance on cinematographic detail and more focus on the plot. However, the costumes and settings are still marvelous.
Rarely is a film, like the movies made years ago, unapologetically corny and magical. Though 'The Return of the King' moves at a breakneck pace, numerous scenes take their sweet time to unfold; director Peter Jackson is not concerned about modern day audiences' aversion to slow, touching cinema. Be warned of the satisfying but lengthy dénouement, more comparable to an epilogue of a novel than a film. 'The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King' is a touching and exhilarating finale to an incredible trilogy.
The first masterpiece of the trilogy - astonishing!
It goes without saying that I have not been a huge fan of the LOTR series at all. The first film is corny and overdrawn, and most of The Two Towers suffers from what many middle sections of 2-hour movies do - the 2nd act drag. Only at the end of The Two Towers do Frodo and Sam and the gang really feel like they're becoming fleshed-out characters and not just action figures charging a castle wall. If you look closely at the end of Towers, it's Sam's speech to Frodo about the possibility of them becoming legends that the movie begins to whisper of what's to come, and what has come to pass in The Return of the King is...well...astounding. I tell you, reader, if you're not terribly fond of The Lord of the Rings, it is the compelling, deeply-moving final film that shows of what director Peter Jackson is truly capable.
Actor Andy Serkis's Gollum has been a joy to watch ever since he appeared on screen in Towers, even despite constant ribbing by Saturday Night Live and the fact that, yeah, he does sound a little silly when he menacingly screeches "My preciousssssssss!" every few minutes. The Return of the King takes a moment to bring additional depth and meaning to Gollum's character by showing his first discovery of the ring even before "The Return of the King" logo graces the screen. Luckily, Gollum is not the only character in the film that is made into a living, breathing, three-dimensional being and not a comic book caricature. The whole film seems to take on a lush, heavy air of true dramatic consequence that seemed to be holding back before.
Frodo and Sam are ever-so-closer to reaching Mordor; Aragorn is coming ever-so-closer to his destiny as, well, look at the title; and (in the most inspiringly great plot move of the film) Merry, Pippin, and Eowyn show their capacity for uncanny acts of heroism they've had in them all along. In addition, Gandalf kicks more Middle Earth butt like he was born to do while protecting Pippin (who is thought to have the ring), and the time for the final battle for the Middle Earth comes nearer by the minute. It seems like a lot is going on, but this third film is remarkably the easiest to follow and also the most accessible. The third film also has a few huge advantages that work in its favor: (1) it actually has an end (and what an ending!), (2) the characters have had more than 6 screen hours to develop, so they're at their peaks here, and (3) the tension leading to that do-it-or-die moment is worth two years of waiting. It's more obvious than ever by King that all three movies are just one big movie chopped into three parts, but that means that this is the equivalent of a no-holds-barred, all-the-stops-out, slam-bang finale of a 2-hour movie -- and that's exactly what it feels like.
The Battle of Helm's deep looks like nothing compared to the steadily-climaxing action of The Return of the King. Unlike some of the scenes in the first two films, the action seems to have a purpose here, and this reviewer will admit - I alternated between tears and the giddy excitement of a schoolboy throughout most of the movie. I'm sure that will be a common reaction. At the same time, Frodo's greed for the ring, and how it affects his relationship with Sam reminded me of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Elijah Wood is no Bogie, but he certainly can conjure up that all-encompassing greed when he wants to. I may get annoyed when he says "Mr. Frodo," but Sean Astin's Sam is really a standout character here - he's kind of been the 2nd string sidekick in the past two, but he actually gets the honor of carrying the film to its remarkably quiet and moving finale even after displaying his prodigious talent as a young actor in the tense Mordor sequence. This may sound like a blanket comment, but everyone is simply fantastic in the film - even when they've been not-so-much earlier.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a compelling tale of redemption and heroism, and in a way, it has redeemed itself through this smashingly fantastic film.Yes, it does slip in a few moments (most notably at the very end, when it could end about 6 different times, but give Jackson some slack - it had to be hard to let go of it), but I really don't feel it was detrimental to the end result of the movie at all. The last 20 minutes or so, even when it's doing the ending fakeouts, it's a tearjerker - not only for what it means for the third film, but for what it means for the trilogy as a whole. I found myself smiling through being choked up at the end in one of the great scenes of the whole 10 hours of the epic: a group of people (I won't say who, for it might spoil things for those die-hard fans out there) sit around a table in a tavern clutching their ale and simply sit in silence. They've been through so much that words won't work. At times, I wonder if words will even work to describe what a great feat of American filmmaking The Return of the King is. I can give only this: Congratulations, Peter Jackson, you've made a masterpiece. Grade: A
Frodo's Journey Concludes In This Epic Masterpiece
"The Return Of The King" is the perfect ending to the most outstanding movie trilogy EVER made. "Return" picks up right where "Two Towers" leaves off (as did part 2 leave off perfectly from part 1). Frodo's journey to Middle-Earth concludes where he must destroy the Ring of Power. The Tolkien classic stays true to the story and director Peter Jackson paints the silver screen as if he's Rembrandt himself. The entire cast is back... Elijah Wood (as the Hobbit Frodo), Sean Astin (as Frodo's trusted friend Sam), Viggo Mortensen (as the destined king Aragorn), Orlando Bloom (as the elf archer Legolas), Ian McKellon (as wizard Gandalf), and Gollum/Smeagol (the computer animated schizo tour guide leading Frodo & Sam to Mordor). "Return Of The King" is a huge movie of epic proportions. Huge sets, incredible scenery, amazing costumes, a huge cast, and huge computers holding huge amounts of memory for all those eye popping computer-generated effects. The battle scenes are some of their fiercest I've ever seen... and the Dark Lord Sauron and the grunts that make up his army are what some people's nightmares are made of. This movie is about friendship, trust and inner strength... and about three-and-a-half hours long. The 2nd disc features 2 documentaries, a "making of" special, a "National Geographic" special, a "Quest Fulfilled" commentary from Peter Jackson, and an incredible trilogy "supertrailer". Easily the best movie of 2003 (earning 11 Oscar nominations and winning 11 Oscars)... and hands down the best trilogy ever put to film (the complete trilogy earned a record 30 Oscar nominations). Fact: "The Return Of The King" brought in two hundred and fifty million ($$) on it's first weekend of release. Awesome movie and a MUST HAVE for any DVD library.
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