An Overview of one of the greatest films in motion picture history...

Rating: 9/10 (11 April 2004)

Note: The following is an overview of The Return Of The King. Though there are no blunt spoilers, there are brief references to the scenes in the film. Those who have not watched the film CAN read this review as there are no open references to notable events in the movie.

I went in to watch The Fellowship Of The Ring when it was released in cinema with low expectations. I had watched Harry Potter prior to LOTR's release, and I found HP to be an extremely bad film. Fantasy films just don't work, I told myself. But when I left the theatre after The Fellowship Of The Ring, I was awed. The film was SO BEAUTIFUL. To this day, I find 'Fellowship' to be the most beautiful of the three, but that is beside the point. I read the LOTR books in three weeks, and watched 'Fellowship' two more times. Needless to say, at this point, I was a Ring-Nut-- something I never thought could happen, because I am not an avid fan of movies in general.
The following year, The Two Towers was released. I found it rather disappointing (mostly due to the severe modifications to Tolkien's initial story)... but when the Extended Version was released, I graded The Two Towers better than 'Fellowship' itself. This film was MASTERFUL in every detail. The anticipation for The Return Of The King was at boiling point.
Late in 2003, I entered the cinema for the ride of my life- Peter Jackson's third installment to the franchise. Avid now though I may be, I left the theatre with mixed feelings.
ROTK is basically about the last step to destroy the One Ring, and the Free Peoples' final effort to battle the forces of Mordor. For a complete synopsis, you can check it out in IMDB's ROTK page under 'Synopsis'. Anyway, back to the overview:
On the downside, the film had too many endings (not a very nice touch from PJ). It was disorientating to sit through the last part due to the constant fades. Next, the film seemed chopped. This was really, really disappointing. It seemed as though the film had been brutally censored (and indeed, it had to be edited tediously to fit the 3-1/2 hour time frame). The film seemed to lack certain key scenes which were clearly cut from the theatrical release. Even though these problems will be rectified in the much anticipated Extended Version, it was still sad to see PJ being forced to cut his work down to size due to the movie executives' demands. Saruman (Christopher Lee) does not appear at all, and a scene where he takes over the Shire has been scrapped. So, I left the cinema feeling I had not watched the entire film.
Now for the plus side (What would a Ring-Nut be if he did not comment on his favourite film?)...
Let me just start by saying ( apart from the severe editing ), that The Return Of The King is the EPIC that the Lord Of The Rings was meant to be. The heart and soul of Tolkien's legendary adventure is wholly captured in this very film. It was BRILLIANT to the finest detail (except the editing). Here is a list of why you MUST watch this movie:
(1)Performances-- The actors' performances in ROTK was simply excellent. Though characters like Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli (Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom,& J.R. Davies) barely get any screen time (the Three Hunters only get a few lines in this film), these characters have already had a taste of glory in the previous two installments. ROTK is the time for previously dormant characters to shine. The best acting, undeniably, came from Sean Astin as Sam Gamgee. His performance was remarkable and so heartfelt. For the first time in my life, tears rolled down my face while watching a movie. I have watched many,many films, but this was the first time that I actually got tearful-- because of Astin's ferociously loyal performance. The unforgettable scene where a sore and weather-beaten Sam carries his master up the jagged mountain-side was more than I could bear-- Astin was excellent. Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen, as before, are stoically masterful in their respective roles; Wood being the weary and burdened Frodo, McKellen being the powerful wizard Gandalf. In this film, hobbits Merry and Pippin (Dom Monaghan and Billy Boyd) prove their worth and solidify their part in the fellowship. Pippin is sworn into the ranks of the Gondorian army, whereas Merry takes an oath to join the Rohirrim(this scene was cut, but it can be seen briefly in the trailer). Both hobbits do extraordinary things--one slays a vicious minion, while the other rescues a dying hero (I will not spoil the movie for those that have not seen it). Merry and Pippin come across as heroic and tougher than they first seemed in this film, and I loved that. Eowyn (Miranda Otto) was splendid in her breakthrough role, but Eomer(karl Urban) does not improve much from the previous film. Disappointingly, Faramir (David Wenham) is even worse off than he was in Two Towers as he does not do any fighting, though his potrayal of the neglected son was good. John Lone does a good job of playing Steward Denethor, the bad father. Gollum is now all-evil, yet he is not as touching as he was in Two Towers (Andy Serkis gets a chance to play Smeagol before the corruption of the Ring in ROTK). I found myself hating Gollum to the max in this film, particularly in the scene where he frames Sam and turns Frodo against him. Overall, with respect to performances, the non-heroes of the previous two films--Sam, Merry, Pippin, Eowyn,and to some extent Denethor & Theoden-- are really the stars of this film.
(2)Visual Effects(obviously)-- By now, everyone should know that the visual and special effects of the LOTR trilogy is the best in any film so far (to date). In ROTK, the visual effects and sets are wonderfully designed and awesome. From the chilling lair of Shelob to the bloody fields of Pellenor, the special effects are top-notch. WETA has come up with some truly superb effects which make the huge battle sequences unforgettable (example: the terrifying besiegers- consisting of armored trolls and war elephants). Though they are remarkable, the editing does interfere with the feel of the film (example: for anyone who has already seen the film-- We see Gandalf talking to Pippin about death while the door is being rammed by trolls tring to break it down, and the next time we see Gandalf is when he is walking across a corpse-strewn field towards Aragorn; Have you ever wondered what happened in between? What happened when that door broke and the trolls came through? Questions which will be answered in the Extended Edition)
(3)Musical score- I am NOT a fan of musical scores from movies, but Howard Shore's music for the Lord Of The Rings was fantastic. It even brought me to tears on several occassions--like when the King and the people of Gondor bow down to the hobbits in the end, the unbearably innocent 'Shire' theme plays for the first time in the film since the end of Two Towers. Be sure to listen out for Shore's brilliant theme music while watching any of the three films again--Personally, The Fellowship Of The Ring's music was the best. Songs of hope and courage like Enya's 'May It Be' and Annie Lennox's 'Into The West' make the Lord Of The Rings one of the most colourful films of all time.
I could go on, for there are many other great reasons for viewing this film, but that would just take forever. Simple advice:

WATCH THIS MOVIE! EVERYONE IN THE WORLD ALREADY HAS!
The greatness of these films cannot be denied. The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King was the FIRST fantasy film to win an Oscar for Best Picture, and it has 11 (ELEVEN) Academy Award wins--a clean sweep, since it WON in ALL the categories it was nominated for. Historic for a film. The trilogy shares I think over 25 Oscar nominations between them, and is undeniably majestic. As for the savage editing in ROTK, I am eagerly awaiting the Extended Version, which is reportedly over 4 hours long.
One should not regard the trilogy as three seperate films, but as one long film. The films were shot continuously, and Peter Jackson himself calls LOTR his '12-hour movie'. 'Fellowship' held the beauty and innocence of the three,'Towers' had the peril and action, and 'King' has the courage and hope of the trilogy. I conclude this overview by stating that this is a great film by any standard, and everyone should watch it.
The Lord Of The Rings was a lovely book written by Prof. J.R.R. Tolkien, and it was brought to life by the genius of Peter Jackson. It will always stand in the halls of motion picture excellence as a timeless classic...