Richard Explains the King

Rating: Null/10 (29 October 2004)

It was inevitable, I guess, that for this, my 40th missive here in this Internet Movie Database, I should turn to Peter Jackson's now-immortal Lord of the Rings Trilogy --- specifically, its 11-time Oscar-winning finale, The Return of the King.
You all know the plot by now without my having to make a proper assessment of it, much less a legitimate synopsis. Still, you have to realize that there is much tragedy and pathos mingled with the overall story, in which Frodo and Sam, led by the ultra-obsessive Gollum, take the final steps on their journey to the fires of Mount Doom, where they must destroy the One Ring of Power in the only means possible: casting it back into the evil fires from whence it was forged. To accomplish the mission requires Frodo to make the ultimate conscious choice; alas, that he cannot do so, for at the very moment he makes his decision, we the viewer follow this one innocent Hobbit into the echo of madness and dementia --- an echo that ultimately results in the biting by Gollum of the Ring-finger, a sequence depicted more graphically here than Rankin/Bass did in its 1980 animated version (itself at the time the most graphic sequence in any of R/B's two-dimensional animated works).
The most spectacular element of Return of the King is Aragorn's Coronation, in which director Peter Jackson allows to drink in the full power of Aragorn's declaration that "by the labour and valour of many have I come into my inheritance." He has asked Gandalf/Mithrandir and Frodo to represent those many, Frodo by bearing the Crown of the Kings; Gandalf by setting that Crown on Aragorn's head. In this one moment, then, you begin to understand that the Trilogy is about to end .... and that nothing can be done to change or even deny that.
As I have written elsewhere, this film has made its very special share of history in that, for the first time ever, a sci-fi/fantasy movie has landed that most powerful of all awards: The Academy Award of Merit for the Best Motion Picture of the Year. Never again will the science-fiction/fantasy community be denied proper honors by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, because the legions of fans of this once uncool genre will no longer permit such a denial. I for one doubt that such a denial will be permitted in my, or in anyone else's, lifetime. And now, the inevitability persists that "The Hobbit," the Trilogy's remarkable and enchanting Prelude, should itself be made into a film --- a film that, as many have wished, needs the chance to be put together with the same love and devotion given to these three films.... preferably, by the same production team whose combined talents brought this epic saga to life.
It is yet to be determined if, ultimately, Peter Jackson and the Wingnut Pictures crew can legitimately do King Kong proper justice. We laughed, I think, in 1976 when Dino De Laurentiis, director John Guillermin, and screenwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr. made their maniacal bid to thrust the great Kong into a 1970s Multiverse. At least the Jessica Lange we know now is far more respected as an actress than she was in those days. The new Kong, a la Jackson, will have to not only transcend the original, it must make us forget Dino's version. (Of course, knowing Dino, it would not surprise me at all were he to be enraged by these remarks.)
In closing, then, The Return of the King will stand the test of time because it was planned, executed, and finally made by people who took a leap of faith. Already they're saying that Hollywood will never again be inhabited by such people. Blame the corporate fools who now control the studios. Only a new generation of young filmmakers will be able to make that leap of faith now. And should they decide to follow in Peter Jackson's footsteps, so much the better. 'Nuff said.