I cannot remember a time when I had been in actual awe of a film, but after seeing Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. To give any negative criticism to an epic of this nature would be to commit an inconceivable act that would be unforgivable.
Thus far the first two installments of the trilogy have grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide and with the final installment in Peter Jackson’s magnificent rendition of over 1,000 pages of literary excellence they are sure to see their numbers double as this is what true trilogies are meant to be.
Trilogies before this such as Star Wars, The Matrix and The Godfather have all managed to astonish audiences and bring in millions but it would most-likely be agreed that the final installment was the weakest of the three, but that all changes with The Return of the King as it is without a doubt the best of the three pictures.
Never before has a movie set in fantastical times managed to conjure up this much emotion and pride as we are taken through some of the most beautiful scenery New Zealand can offer with a cast that possesses all the necessary characteristics of the characters they play.
Again we join Frodo (Wood) and Sam (Astin) with their unfaithful companion Gollum (Serkis) as the travel the treacherous terrain on their way to Mordor to destroy the One Ring that will destroy the evil that stirs in the darkness.
Back again are Aragorn (Mortensen), Legolas (Bloom), Gandalf (McKellen) and Gimli (Rhys-Davies) to help in the battle to save mankind as Aragorn follows his rightful path to becoming King of Gondor.
Dread is on the horizon and the fiery Mt. Doom spews and churns with the ever-watchful eye of Sauron beaming over dark lands littered with orcs and watched from the sky by Fell Beasts ridden by Nazgûl (undead spirits of corrupted Kings). Other creatures also make an astounding appearance such as Shelob, an ancient, giant spider-like creature that lurks in a labyrinthine cave near the steps of Cirith Ungol and Mûmakil, known to the Hobbits as Oliphaunts, which are three tusked elephant-like beasts used by the orc army.
Though the battles and creatures are spectacular, Jackson has managed to bring emotion into this film that we have not yet experienced as the weight of the burden put on Frodo and Sam is felt in the most extreme way and Sean Astin pulls the character of Samwise up from his subservient role into one of a hero, so much that the crowd embraces him and cheers him on.
Elijah Wood gives Frodo Baggins a new face and turns in his best acting of the three films as he goes through more pain and anguish in his attempts to bring the war to its conclusion, and Viggo Mortensen manages to pull the character of Aragorn up from being a lowly ranger into one that deserves the throne of Gondor he is meant to be seated in.
Return of the King‘s spectacular moment as The Battle for Helms Deep in Two Towers made up of 10,000 orcs is dwarfed in scale and imagery to the battle for Minis Tirith in Return of the King, which consists of over 200,000 combatants in the orc army and a couple of unexpected friends, of which I will not tell you to save the surprise.
If I was forced to pick any nits on this production I would have to say that leaving out Christopher Lee as Saruman was a mistake as he doesn’t even make an appearance and the many false endings that will have people standing up to leave and sitting back down again were a little frustrating. On the other hand, to be able to create a three hour and 20 minute long picture that contains nothing but necessary scenes makes for the final ten minutes of epilogue forgivable. Anyway, anything that was left out for time constraints is sure to make it to the extended edition DVD, which will surely leave all Rings fans satisfied.
Return of the King grows and grows into a resounding crescendo as the fate of Middle Earth rests on the shoulders of two young Hobbits, and by the end of the movie you will also be weary as you are forced to carry the burden of the Ring yourself.
Peter Jackson can be more than proud of what he has put together and so can everyone involved in this production. The ability to turn over 1,000 pages of J.R.R. Tolkien’s grandest epic into attention grabbing filmmaking is a feat of its own, but to turn it into the dramatic epic it has become is movie making history.
