Return of the King

[Andrew Pratt]

Anyone else seen this wonderful 3rd installment of the trilogy? I watched this afternoon and I think I like this installment the best of the three:yesnod:

Yes the ending goes on and on and on but really there's so many story lines to tie up I half expected it but other then that its paced well and the battle scenes are stunning.

[Burke Strickland]

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is a sensational and satisfying conclusion to the film trilogy and a remarkable cinematic achievement. It ends the cycle on an up-note, in that whereas so many third installments fall flat and flatly disappoint, Return of the King succeeds as a worthy achievement in its own right as well as a successful finale to the cycle. In many ways, it is the best of the three, and that is saying a lot.

It would be an outstanding movie even if the other two in the cycle had never been filmed, but together, they stand head and shoulders above any other English-language film trilogy in living memory as the best ever (and yes that includes Star Wars Ep 4,5,6, The Godfather I,II,III, Back to the Futures, Alien/Aliens/et al, The Matrix/Reloaded/Revolutions, Indiana Jones, all the Lethal Weapons, Die Hards, Planets of the Apes and any other collection of similar themed flicks). All three of the Lord of the Rings movies were strong movies, all deserving of high praise and repeated viewings. The same cannot be said of any of the other trilogies out there that I know of.

A "single" ending (throwing the ring into the fires of Mount Doom or even the crowning of the king) would not have been a fitting conclusion to the spectacle or the series, in that all the loose ends and characters we've come to care about would not have been brought to a resolution and also would have been a lot less in the spirit of Tolkien's book. They left out a hefty portion of the book's concluding chapters as it is (although I for one thought that the scouring of the shire was anticlimactic when reading the book, and feel it was justified to leave that section out of the movie -- the end result was really about the same; it just would have taken another 45 minutes or longer to get there, and the existing endings would still have been necessary and appropriate.

All the elements of successful film making are there, and done so well, in a way that served the story rather than just being there to "show off", that I think collectively the trilogy easily ranks in the top 10 movies I've ever seen, (probably in the top 5 -- I'll have to think about that), and individually, they each are easily in the top 25. The list of accomplishments could go on and on -- the magnificent cinematography, an at times sweepingly grand and other times hauntingly intimate musical score coupled with a rousing and well rendered sound track, extraordinary special effects, impeccable attention to detail in set design and costuming, effective editing, and script writing that really told a memorable story -- true to the book, but compelling as a movie, too.

The intercutting between massive action sequences and small scale character-centric sequences really gives the whole enterprise impressive scope while resonating on a deeply human level. The kind of sweeping action that the battle scenes encompass are the kind of grand scale epic that, for example, Scorcese attempted with "Gangs of New York". A major difference (especially with Return of the King) is that that the rest of the story was equally compelling in Lord of the Rings. Also, the characters as individuals and interacting with the other characters were actually interesting and well acted by an ensemble cast that has been under-appreciated for nuanced and vital performances.

Of course, the directing pulled it all together -- you may have never heard of Peter Jackson before Lord of the Rings (highly likely), but unless you've been hiding under a Styrofoam panel in the desert someplace, :>) you've undoubtedly heard of him now. We will remember his contribution to the cinema for a long time to come even if he never films another movie.

I'm sure I'll go back to see Return of the King at least a couple more times in the commercial theater and look forward to adding both the theatrical cut and the Extended Edition to my DVD collection next year. I'm not going to try to predict what awards The Return of the King might garner, but it sure deserves a special place in the pantheon of great movies of all time, whether recognized by voters of the various awards, by the audiences who pay for tickets (and buy the DVDs) to see it, or in the hearts of movie lovers for generations to come.

This is a really special movie. Most highly recommended,

Burke

[Chris D]

Ah yes, there's the large review I was waiting for. Thanks, Burke! Now wait a minute, are you saying this surpasses the Naked Gun trilogy? Or the Police Academy series? Or Rocky? (jk)

Can't wait to see it myself.




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[Gordon Moore]

Well count me disappointed and pleased all in the same blow. Never read the book (only seen the animated version when I was a little kid, so I barely remember it) so I judge this strictly on the movie's merits and not something else holding near and dear to my heart.

Fellowship is still the best of the bunch for story. This one has one of the best battles ever put to screen and has set the bar extremely high. I liked, as Burke mentions, the epic battle inter-cut with the personal struggles.

BUT

What happened to Gandalf's powers :?...I thought as the white wizard he might have stepped it up a notch...I guess not reading the books I'm missing something there, like he's not supposed to use them or something. Gimli's still cracking wise and is "the man".
The endings (and it seems there are many) wrecked it for me. I didn't appreciate that style at all and wished it were done differently. It seemed awkward. It takes you out of the story and unfortunately you are usually judged on the last thing you do not the first....so even though everything up to that point was perfect (and I mean perfect, pacing, style, everything)....this tying up loose ends style ending was annoying, frustrating and went on WAY TOO LONG.

I think PJ would have been wiser to take the extra hour he cut out and build 2 movies out of one....or shorten this one up. We didn't need to see everything resolved and as faithful as you can be to the novel, things are bound to be left out so why resolve everything at the end (the actual ending was unnecessary and better left unsaid I think. in fact, the damn thing should have ended at the fellowship at the foot of Frodo’s bed The rest (all of it) was unnecessary.

If Jackson gets best director I think it would be based on the combined effort of the three movies and not just this one because the praise for this one is a little over-rated (I think). Face it, the director of CGI deserves equal time with Jackson for keeping this fantasy grounded in reality. Jackson drove the vision but the believable cgi kept us in the illusion. That was a feat unto itself.

Not the best movie I've ever seen but it's up there as one of the better movies I've ever seen.

A- (probably an A...I'm on the fence)




"A RONSTER!"

[Chris D]

I got to see this one last night, finally. I'm also happy and slightly disappointed all at once.

First, the disappointment: Naturally, I had the highest of expectations for this movie, as I have with the Matrix and Star Wars sequels. In general, I think this movie delivers and delivers well. Any producer who would even attempt to make this trilogy into movies and keep them true to the book faces enormous challenges and a no-win situation. As with many good books, there is so much story and information that you either have to cut stuff out to make the movie, or make the movie overly long and complicated. While as a whole I think these movies have achieved a good solution, I felt that the beginning and the end of ROTK particularly was more fragmented and disjointed than it really had to be. I think the same scenes could even have been included with a different choice of editing to achieve a slightly better feel.

BUT... that's really my main and almost only complaint. Other than that, the movie was fantastic. Great story (thanks to Tolkien, of course) and fantastic visuals. (Legolas still ROCKS!!!) Words like "epic", "impressive", "awesome", etc kept flickering into my head. As a side note, this will be quite impressive in a proper home theater on DVD as well.

Another side note--since the movie was 3.5 hours long, I was VERY disappointed that the theater audience CONSTANTLY had someone getting up to stretch their legs, use the bathroom, etc. There goes that whole public-attention-span-wussies thing again. It's going to be interesting to get all three mega-versions on DVD with all extra scenes included. Could be 12 hours of movies.

I'll give this one an "A". I keep hoping that one of these movie potentials will achieve the new spot in my mind as "Greatest Movie Ever". This didn't fit the bill, but the saga as a whole may be the greatest saga on film so far.




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[Gordon Moore]

the end of ROTK particularly was more fragmented and disjointed than it really had to be.

That's it Chris, you nailed it. It felt like we were just flipping through pages of the book. He'd show us a scene, flip through 50 pages or so, and then plunk down another scene.

It felt a little clunky.




"A RONSTER!"

[Glen]

Went to see it on Sunday.

Since several people had warned about the 'long' ending, I think I was expecting it to be worse than it was - it seemed actually seemed pretty good compared to what I expected.

As for the rest of the movie.....Fabulous 8O . It certainly lived up to the expectations. I can not wait to get it on DVD ( I'm not sure how much they'll be able to 'extend' this already 3.5 hour movie, maybe they'll smooth out the ending for everyone put off by it).

This has to be the best trilogy ever. If I ever have enough time, I'm certainly going to have to read the books.

:T

[justin]

Well it's the 3rd installment for this trilogy. I will own it to complete my set. The theater I was in sucked, maybe I'll have to go see it again. For me the ending was to long. It was needed to finish those loose ends. My favorite is the two towers.




Jus

Taking it one day at a time. Life moves quick.

[Brandon B]

( I'm not sure how much they'll be able to 'extend' this already 3.5 hour movie, maybe they'll smooth out the ending for everyone put off by it).

To well over 5 hours, from several reports.

BB

[P-Dub]

Director Peter Jackson just edited the four-hour, 10-minute longer cut, due in November. The theatrical version will arrive in May or June.

Source: USA Today

Count me in for the Theatrical and Extended cut DVDs. And I still get asked which version I'm going to buy? :LOL: Both!




Paul

There are three kinds of people in this world; those that can count, and those that can't.

[David Meek]

The extended versions have been much better movies IMHO, so I'll wait until that one is released before buying. I'll rent the theatrical version once it's out, though.
:T

One request for Mr. Jackson: don't add any more minutes to the ending - it's quite long enough as it is. Or better yet, edit OUT the "Frodo in the bed" scene.
:nono:




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