A Masterpiece Of Filmmaking

Rating: 10/10 (12 January 2012)

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King brings Peter Jackson's mammoth adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic to a close in suitably epic fashion. epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It is the concluding film in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, following The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. As Sauron launches the final stages of his conquest of Middle-earth, Gandalf the Wizard, and Théoden King of Rohan rally their forces to help defend Gondor's capital Minas Tirith from the looming threat. Aragorn finally claims the throne of Gondor and summons an army of ghosts to help him defeat Sauron. Ultimately, even with full strength of arms, they realise they cannot win; so it comes down to the Hobbits, Frodo and Sam, to bear the burden of the Ring and deal with the treachery of Gollum. After a long journey they finally arrive in the dangerous lands of Mordor, seeking to destroy the One Ring in the place it was created, the volcanic fires of Mount Doom.Notably, it won all eleven Academy Awards for which it was nominated, an Oscar record, and tied for largest number of awards won with Ben-Hur and Titanic.
Instead of starting just where the previous film left off, however, it goes far back in time to the moment the tormented creature Gollum first came to possess the One Ring. In this flashback, actor Andy Serkis who voiced Gollum and performed his movements onset prior to the final CGI effects finally gets to appear on screen, portraying Gollum's former self, Sméagol. This disturbing scene serves as a potent reminder that the Ring seeks to corrupt even the well-intentioned Frodo, who is increasingly struggling with the dark power of the Ring himself. Thus, the film returns to the present, following Frodo, Sam, and Gollum as they journey ever closer to the foreboding land of Mordor. They pass by the terrifying dark city of Minas Morgul, watching as the dreadful army of the Witch King sets out for the human strongholds in Gondor, and move on to the rocky stairs to Cirith Ungol, where an even darker enemy lies in wait. Meanwhile, the rest of the Fellowship reunites in Rohan, having defeated the wizard Saruman on two different fronts, at Helm's Deep and Isengard. They are not together for long, though, since the hobbit Pippin gets into trouble, making it necessary for him and Gandalf to hastily depart for Minas Tirith, capital of Gondor. Once there, they find the steward of Gondor, Denethor, in an unstable mental state and the city preparing for battle against the amassing forces of Sauron. Denethor unwisely sends his only remaining son, Faramir, back into bloody battle to prove himself. He returns nearly dead, sending Denethor over the edge of sanity.In another realm, elf Arwen begins her journey to immortal life in the Grey Havens, on her way to leave Middle-earth -- and Aragorn -- forever, but has a vision that causes her to once again reconsider her decision. Back in Rohan, the men are preparing to ride to Gondor's aide. Éowyn desperately wants to join the men in battle, but her uncle, King Théoden, orders her to stay and defend Rohan if necessary. The hobbit Merry also desires to ride with the men, but is denied due to his small size and inexperience. Aragorn is met there by the elf Elrond, who brings him the re-forged Sword that was Broken in the ancient battle with Sauron and urges him to take a different route to Gondor. Heeding Elrond's advice, Aragorn, along with elf Legolas and dwarf Gimli, takes a cavernous path through the mountains, where they meet ghoulish ghosts who betrayed Aragorn's ancestors and are doomed to eternal unrest unless they fulfill their broken oaths by aiding him. All but Frodo, Sam, and Gollum will meet on the massive battlefield of the Pelennor before the gates of Minas Tirith. The former three instead engage in a battle of wills between each other and the One Ring as they head toward the fires of Mount Doom to destroy it.
The thrilling conclusion to what has become the film event of our time - - the definitive screen fantasy -- features more spellbinding moments, bigger battles, more emotion and more poetry than the terrific first two films in the trilogy.It is visually stunning as it pops your eyes, excites your senses and brings you in as close as a whisper for scenes of startling emotion.Jackson boldly and faithfully brought J.R.R. Tolkien's world to life as he's created the most epic and sweeping fantasy adventure of all time as evidenced in this third film.Aside from that,the movie is great at all levels including the brilliance of the cast.Standing out amid an excellent cast is Elijah Wood, stymied by tweeness in the earlier films but here convincingly developing the character of Frodo as the embodiment of valor and self-sacrifice.Aside from that,it provides the viewer a great tale of heroes, bonded together by friendship and spectacular themes about very special friendship between hobbits Elijah Wood's Frodo and Sean Astin's Sam that touches us most of all.This is a masterpiece of filmmaking.