Return of The King Movie Review
December 18, 2003 | 
21 Comments
Yesterday we decided to take a little vacation from our vacation and see a movie. The Return of The King is probably the movie I’ve most eagerly awaited in my lifetime. It’s my favorite book from my favorite series and because the previous two films were so well done I was giddy with excitement.
For the most part it didn’t disappoint.
Before I move on I want to let you know that there are some minor spoilers ahead. I’ll do my best not to give anything away but there are a few bits in particular that I want to talk about.
The Return of The King, as with the previous films in the trilogy is a modern work of art. It’s truly amazing to see how well Peter Jackson and company turned Tolkien’s work into a living, breathing on-screen world.
The special effects and cinematography are the best I’ve ever seen. There are a few parts in the movie where it’s a little over the top, but those are few an far between. The detail here is absolutely amazing, from the runes on Anduril to the horrifying fell beasts — Jackson’s crew didn’t miss nary a thing.
The acting takes a bit of a step up from the previous films, especially the work of Sean Austin as Samwise. Here is the Sam from the books that I grew up with and grew to love. There is a real chemistry between he and Elija Wood and they do as good a job as I think is possible portraying the harrowing journey of two special hobbits through Mordor.
Overall I think this is the best of the three films, however I also thing it’s the most flawed. What I mean here is that the good is so good that it overcomes some of it’s problems.
The main issues I had were with dialogue and my favorite scene in all of the books, so I might be a bit biased as well. I felt the scene with Eowyn and the Witch King of Angmar was really diluted.
The dialog was dumbed-down way to much for my tastes, and although it was fairly accurate, it didn’t really convey what I thought was an important turning point in Tolkien’s saga.
“Begone, foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion! Leave the dead in peace!”
A cold voice answered: “Come not between the Nazgul and his pray! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the house of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye.”
A sword rang as it was drawn. “Do what you will; but I will hinder it, if I may.”
“Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!”
Then Merry heard of all sounds in that hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel. “But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Eowyn I am, Eomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.”
It’s not that long or hard to follow is it? I can see how they might want to cut it down a bit, but they really butchered this one. It took all the drama out of the scene and made it just another small fight in the midst of what was the greatest battle in the books.
Also sadly absent was the Mouth of Sauron. I was really looking forward to this part and it’s just plain not there.
All in all these minor deviations and edits don’t take much from the film as a whole. It’s just that up until this film I’d been just fine with the changes Jackson had made. Then he had to go and muck up my favorite parts. Hell, even the cartoon version got them just about right.
The Return of The King is a true masterwork of filmmaking and storytelling. It’s got just about everything and in the end is another great film that, in it’s own amazing way, illustrates and brings to life what I feel is the greatest story every told.
My rating: 5 out of 5.
Filed under: Review
Comments
1. Dave S. said:
The ending still felt a bit too drawn out.
All credit to Jackson, he cut down that extra hundred pages of the book in a logical way, that works well in this context. And I guess you need a good deal of resolution for characters you’ve spent 10 hours of screen time with. But I’ve read elsewhere, and I’ll agree, that the multiple fading out and in between scenes feels disjointed.
But overall, 10 out of 10, 5 stars, whatever your rating is - this is cinema on the level of The Godfather, Shawshank Redemption, and others in everyone’s top ten list. Star Wars what? LOTR is the new yardstick for the next three generations of filmmakers.
Posted on December 18, 2003 10:47 AM | #
2. patrick h. lauke said:
yeah, the ending did seem a bit too long onscreen, and some of the ultra-fast action scenes were a tad too confusing in closeup. nonetheless, very entertaining.
Posted on December 18, 2003 01:11 PM | #
3. ste said:
I was more perturbed with the changes in the second movie (adding bits is personally a lot more horrendous than removing them, particularly when they change characters and the story as much as they do).
I was overall well satisfied with the treatment of the plot in the third movie - I thought it most true of the three books vs. their respective movies. The dialogue between Eowyn and the Nazgul, while not nearly as poetic as the book, was certainly a lot less confusing than the true dialogue would have on-screen. (I can hear the less-read audience members now - “Edna, did he just say dwimmerlake? What the hell..?” “Hey wait, is that a Bible quote?” “Haha, she talks like Yoda.”)
I think that if I were to complain of one thing missing, it would be the original Return of the King scenes - where Aragorn comes into the city disguised in order to save Faramir and Eowyn from the curse of the Nazgul, and the relationship that forms between those two (E & F) which is clearly hinted at in the end. Of course, I suspect that will be one of the additional scenes in the Extended edition since their relationship is hinted at in the movie. I hope that the Madness of Denethor will be given a bit more treatment as well - his character progression is much too strange and sudden to really grasp the depth portrayed in the book.
Posted on December 18, 2003 05:03 PM | #
4. catherine said:
I think this film was completely amazing. The special effects blew me away and the acting, especially from Sean Astin, was incredible. The cast and crew from this film deserve so much recognition for what they have achieved and I am sure this film and the other two will go down in cinematic history.
Posted on December 21, 2003 11:32 AM | #
5. Mike said:
Sorry but Jackson mucked this one up!
I felt that Jackson ran out of time on this one and cut out very important scenes for non relevant scenes. Saruman has no closure. Weak witch king battle scene. No mouth of Sauron. What happened to the hobbits being taken for orcs going awol? (the cartoon got that right at least). The beginning with Gollum was a waste of time and should have been added to the DVD and instead they should have put the Saruman scene in in place of that. I was very disappointed with this cut and I hope the Extended DVD does justice. There are so many scenes missing from movie it’s not even funny but only one who has read the books would know that. I just felt like Jackson rushed this film to the movie theaters. You can’t mix movie making in a corporate evironment. I think the NEW LINE EXECUTIVES are a bunch of assholes for giving Jackson such a short deadline to get the movie out in the theaters. They could have waited till Summer 2004 to finish the film properly. Don’t get me wrong the special effects where great but special effects doesn’t make a movie. A sorely disappointed fan….
Posted on December 21, 2003 08:06 PM | #
6. Daisy said:
GREAT movie..but this was not The Return of the King…at least not Tolkiens version…
What in the world did PJ do to Sam and Frodo..the basic story of them was their friendship…a friendship that couldnt be shaken..and PJ decides to completely change that..Tolkiens version of Sam and Frodos journey and friendship was better and PJ should have left it alone.
Posted on December 22, 2003 07:08 AM | #
7. Scrivs said:
The movie was brilliant. If it deviated from the book then everyone should be even more happier because now there are two masterpieces to enjoy. If you are complaining you are merely being anal and no director could have pleased you unless you wanted each movie to last 6 hours.
Posted on December 22, 2003 09:30 AM | #
8. MWS said:
The movie was FANTASTIC… whatever changes made that deviated from the original (meaning the book) were done in order for the film to be more cinematic… if anybody wanted the film to be 100% faithful, meaning including ALL the songs and whatnot, then the cinematic value would just be decreased to such a point it wouldn’t be such a worthy film anymore. Congrats to the staff and crew are indeed in order…
Posted on December 22, 2003 07:40 PM | #
9. Larry said:
I am a lifelong LOTR fan, having read the work about 10 x in my life, so I eargerly awaited The Return-Ironically-it may have been the best movie I have ever seen, despite the glaring omissions of scenes I assumed PJ would film( the Scouring of the Shire, the Mouth of Sauron, houses of the Healing,) Regretablly-these were omitted. The movie did capture the emotional peak one gets when reading the Return. For example, Jackson nailed the muster of Rohan and the Ride of The Rohirrim,which I thought could not be done on film. While many have criticized the insertion of Arwen-I think her scenes were great. I could go on and on, but if King does not garner the Oscar for best pciture and best director-then the academy truly do not understand what great movies are all about. I beleive these films will take its place among the giant movie epics
Posted on December 29, 2003 03:15 PM | #
10. Defense For ROTK! said:
Alright. For ALL THOSE PPL OUT THERE that are complaining about how the special effects were stupid, how Saruman wasn’t shown like in the book, how the Mouth of Sauron wasn’t shown and whatever else you can FIND TO COMPLAIN ABOUT, SHUT UP!!!!
If you think the film was crap just bcuz they cut out certain scenes, think about it. It was already 3 hours, and NOT EVERYONE can stand in the theatre for a 4 HOUR MOVIE just bcuz YOU STUBBORN PPL WANT EVERY SINGLE DARN DETAIL PUT IN THE MOVIE!!!!!
Sure, I wish Saruman had been put in the movie. Some of the battle scenes may have looked fake, but HELLO! Do you have ANY IDEA how much work and time and effort had to be put into the movie as it is?!
The crew could not put more detail into the movie. No, I have not read all the parts in the books (only some) but those of you that can somehow manage to find SOMETHING negative to say about how the film was presented or about why they cut out certain scenes, I think that’s enough. If you don’t like it, then that’s your problem. You don’t have to watch it, but PLEASE don’t put down your NEGATIVE comments about everything in the movie. If you’re so disappointed, keep your comments to yourself or buy the Extended DVD Edition when it comes out if you want to see the missed cuts so much, but quit complaining. You obviously don’t realize how much work was put into the films, even you don’t like them. So keep your NEGATIVE comments to yourself!!! :(
Posted on December 31, 2003 01:10 PM | #
11. ron said:
The first hour and 40 minutes…almost all talk. The Battle was excellent. The film was at its best (as was Two Towers) when it stuck to the original, and at its worst where it deviated substantially. I’m not a purist about this. Arwen’s character, perhaps the biggest deviation, worked fine. But other changes…didn’t do much for me. They could’ve been cut and not missed.
Eagle scenes were great, as was much else. It’s tough, for me, to sit in a theatre that long. I will enjoy the DVD release more…I’ll be closer to the refrigerator.
Posted on January 1, 2004 07:16 PM | #
12. DRG said:
I enjoyed the movie, but I prefered the other two more than this one. Don’t misunderstand my criticism, I recommend everyone to watch this movie, and I will be in line to purchase the extended DVD to watch even more of the story, but ROTK did not match the excellent standards of the first two films. This film seemed more disjointed and at times more difficult to watch; the others were more fluid with the storyline and kept my interest in the story, not the effects. Perhaps the studio put too much pressure on Jackson to get this in the theaters too soon. Additional time in the editing room would have certainly put this film on the same level as the the previous ones. I would have prefered a slightly different allocation on time spent on a couple scenes. The first scene with Smeagol should have been saved for the extended DVD. It was not pleasing to watch and did not add significantly to the third film. Smeagol seemed almost gay-a seemingly pointless attempt at political correctness. He morphed from being engrossed by the ring to murdering his friend in an unbelievable amount of time-a slight hesitation to show this dramatic change in his mentality would have been more realistic. And was it important to advance the story by showing the victim’s eyes as he was strangled? Show that scene from the back or side. Afterall, its a fantasy, not a horror film-the audience should be engrossed, not grossed out by a realistic Faces of Death look . It diminshed the introduction of the story and delayed preparing the audience for the upcoming three-hour delight. Time saved by deleting that scene should have been used to create a more systematic and believable timeline and built-up to the seige of Minas Tirith. It seemed that in a matter of twenty minutes 250,000 orcs made their way across the field and through the city’s defenses. I think the battle would have been more climatic if more time was spent building up to it and showing a steadily-increasing sense of forboding, dispair, and defeat instead of being thrown into a major battle that seemed to blow in with the North wind. I found the multiple scenes including the pig-like orc to be an unnecessary attempt for cheap shock value. Jackson could have attained a similar affect from a physically displeasing and more traditional looking orc without having the character stand out beyond its role. Every time I saw this character, I was temporarily taken out of a fantastical story and left wondering whether this orc could be some distant ancestor of Jason from Friday the Thirteenth. I also grew weary of watching the fellbeasts pick-up men and drop them to their deaths every time they appeared on screen. All in all, I enjoyed the film-even with the mutiple but-wait-there’s-more endings (which became ever more difficult to sit through as each one passed because, well, three plus hours is a long time after drinking a super-sized Coke and already waiting to use the restroom until the end when the end keeps ending. Atleast with the DVD, one can utilize the pause button to remedy that distraction. I am also hoping that the DVD includes that much-needed time before the battle.
Posted on January 1, 2004 11:08 PM | #
13. Daisy Brockhouse of Loamsdown said:
Okay here it goes HOW DARE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think that this movie was the best of all three come on so there were a few missing points who gives a I mean Jackson did an absolute amazing thing with these movies and all you people can do is gripe yes the mouth of Sauron was a good piece but what they did with aragorn’s speech seemed to almost top it this movie was moving in so many ways the end was not drawn out and you know you didn’t have to have that coke the movie itself makes up for any refreshment you could have gotten and the scene with eowyn and the witch king was great it got straight to the point yes I do love the book is have read them 14 times and how peter adapted them was awesome and awe inspiring and the 3rd movie which I was looking forward to because it was my favorite and the movie lived up and past my expectations and I have seen this movie 7 times and I plan to see it more the movie was no let down to the LotR book junkies it hit all the major points of the book and it hit them with style and grace the emotion was just so powerful I don’t understand how anyone can’t love this one the best it’s a movie for goodness sakes it cant be word for word in the book me personally yes the acting in this movie was absolutely wonderful the emotion the actors gave was making me cry which I did at several points in the movie the movie just wove together and portrayed Tolkien’s story faithfully I do notice you do make several good points about the movie that are kind but still this movie was the best one of all three I repeat myself stop acting like my mom who has to nitpick apart every movie just enjoy it don’t focus on its faults yes it does have some I admit but still its ppl like you who criticize a movie way to much and are overcritical okay so go back watch it again this time without a coke or popcorn and just really immerse yourself in Tolkien’s world and of all the “false endings” its worth it because you start crying at the Gray Havens and all the other “false endings” because there is so much emotion so I say go back for a second viewing and really watch it don’t think just watch it and I say for dissing ROTK I say off with your head and/or into shelob’s lair with you good day
Posted on January 5, 2004 01:18 PM | #
14. Ruby Foxburr of Loamsdown said:
First and foremost, I have to say that this is the single greatest movie of the trilogy, much better than the Two Towers. Fellowship of the Ring was done extremely well, though. And if one more person rants to me about how the movie was horrible, like i’ve heard from numerous people (and this doesn’t apply to most of you, probably not any of you here)and hasn’t read the books, then you have no right to rant as you are not a true fan of Tolkiens work. You can voice your opinion once you know the whole story, and everything that was omitted. I don’t think this applies to any of you that have posted here, as I think that you’ve all read the books, but anyone else that reads this and decides to rant about how the movie was a piece of crap should close their mouth before they make a fool of themselves because they haven’t read the books. Ok, now that that’s out of the way….I must commend Sean Astin for his wonderful acting in this movie. The scenes on Mt. Doom between Frodo and him are just wonderful and make my eyes tear up. I loved how they made Frodo distrustful of Sam and having them split up before they get to Shelob’s Lair, it really added to the emotional point of the story. And the battle between Sam and Shelob was awesome. I was cheering along with the rest of the theater at that scene. It was wonderfully done. The multiple ending scenes were not a problem to me, and I had a super sized coke as well. Though I found myself laughing because after the scene where Frodo wakes up at the end, people started getting up to leave before they realized that the movie wasn’t over. Cheers to Billy Boyd as Pippin in this movie. I really didn’t care for Pippin much in the first two movies, because I felt that Billy Boyd didn’t do too great of a job, but I take that back now. He really gets the job done. The scene when he is singing to Denethor is a tearjerker, at least to me. And he can sing, which was a total plus. And the difference between Merry and Pippin’s personalities(which seem somewhat similar in the first two movies) is really emphasized here. Pippin was terrified of going to battle because he knows that he’s no warrior, but Merry…he’s enthusiastic. I love it at the Black Gate when he just takes a deep breath before plunging into battle. Love the singing those two do at the beginning, too. There should be more of that in the movies, it really shows what hobbits really enjoy and the way they should be, instead of at war. The Smeagol/Deagol scene I thought was extremely well done, I always wanted to know what they looked like as hobbits and that was one of the things I was waiting for in the third movie. I think it was somewhat important to understand a little more about Gollum and his double personality, and the hold the ring had on him from the very beginning. It was extremely well done. And if you think Smeagol seemed gay because of some of the things he said or did, like “Give that to us, my love.” well, that is the same exact way he says it in the book. Read it if you haven’t and you’ll see. I have saw the movie seven times and i’m going again tonight, and i’ve read the books twice through, and working on a third. I believe Peter Jackson did a tremendous job on these three films, though I would have liked to see the houses of healing. He didn’t film the scouring of the shire, and that’s one of the scenes I really wanted to see. He said he didn’t like it and it wasn’t that important. Yeah, right. I thought it was very important, and was looking forward to it. I wouldn’t have minded for that movie to be four hours long, I think much more could have been done and they could have made it even better(if that is possible) than it already is. Viggo Mortensen did a wonderful job as Aragorn, and David Weneham was an excellent Faramir. (Faramir is one of my favorite characters in the books.) The scene with the death of the Witchking was very well done, Miranda and Dom did an incredible job. And now for the best part in the whole movie: when they return to Hobbiton. I would have loved to see more of the wedding of Sam and Rosie, I thought it was very nice but could have been extended a little more. But the best thing of all…was the scene at the harbor. I was reduced to tears here. Sobbing uncontrollably. The most incredible emotional scene of the entire trilogy (Though the death of Boromir in FotR was incredible too). I was crying right along with Sam, Merry, and Pippin on that one. Lastly, I have to say, if anyone disagrees with me, I have full permission from King Elessar to throw you into Shelob’s lair and let her tear you limb from limb. If you have any questions or disagreements, feel free to email me. But I highly suggest you don’t argue, because you won’t win. Namarie.
Posted on January 5, 2004 01:19 PM | #
15. Autumn Robinson said:
If Peter Jackson is such a better storyteller than JRR Tolkien then he should have written his own story. How arrogant must he be to have changed so many things. I understand that things had to be left out and pasted together to make a movie out this book, but Jackson added things that weren’t there, like all of that crap with Gollum throwing away they bread..why? Why have Gandalf saying that all hope is dead, that’s part of who Gandalf is. What about at the end when Jackson leaves Frodo and Sam lying prostrate on the rock waiting for their death insteead of standing up facing it?
Bottom line…….Peter Jackson royally screwed up what will be the only time that these books are put on film and anyone who thinks othewise cannot be a true lover of the books.
Posted on January 9, 2004 06:45 PM | #
16. Heather said:
I thought the movie was amazing! If you love Tolkiens books, the characters in the movie, if you have a heart, then you will love this movie. There is soo much emotion in it. I cried at just about every scene. Sean Astin’s acting was absolutely amazing in The Return of the King. I’d have to say whether or not you think Peter messed up, the actors didnt. Personally, I think Peter nailed it. I read the books many times, and he did his best. You all have to remember Peter is also a fan of Tolkien, and he made thesemovies to the best of his ability. Maybe he was rushed. He didnt have to please us this much. All the movies are great, and they will always be remembered by me and many others. Thanks.
Posted on January 16, 2004 06:49 AM | #
17. Heather said:
I thought the movie was amazing! If you love Tolkiens books, the characters in the movie, if you have a heart, then you will love this movie. There is soo much emotion in it. I cried at just about every scene. Sean Astin’s acting was absolutely amazing in The Return of the King. I’d have to say whether or not you think Peter messed up, the actors didnt. Personally, I think Peter nailed it. I read the books many times, and he did his best. You all have to remember Peter is also a fan of Tolkien, and he made thesemovies to the best of his ability. Maybe he was rushed. He didnt have to please us this much. All the movies are great, and they will always be remembered by me and many others. Thanks.
P.S. The soundtrack to The Return of the King is also amazing. I love it. Praise to Howard Shore!
Posted on January 16, 2004 06:50 AM | #
18. Heather said:
I thought the movie was amazing! If you love Tolkiens books, the characters in the movie, if you have a heart, then you will love this movie. There is soo much emotion in it. I cried at just about every scene. Sean Astin’s acting was absolutely amazing in The Return of the King. I’d have to say whether or not you think Peter messed up, the actors didnt. Personally, I think Peter nailed it. I read the books many times, and he did his best. You all have to remember Peter is also a fan of Tolkien, and he made thesemovies to the best of his ability. Maybe he was rushed. He didnt have to please us this much. All the movies are great, and they will always be remembered by me and many others. Thanks.
P.S. The soundtrack to The Return of the King is also amazing. I love it. Praise to Howard Shore!
Posted on January 16, 2004 06:51 AM | #
19. peter said:
LOTR: A tedious pile of pretentious arse. It took over nine hours to throw a ring in a volcano? Why didn’t they fly up there on the damn eagles and save us all a lot of time! What a monumental waste of space. Monolithic, portentous, ham fisted, childish dribble.
I hated it :)
Posted on January 23, 2004 04:12 AM | #
20. Rubella Aranel Foxburr-Took said:
WOW. 11 Oscar nominations! Incredible! You deserve it, PJ, for bringing us this wonderful film! Saw it eight times now and just thought I would comment again now that it is fresh in my memory. Oh My Gosh. Incredible. Better every time you see it. CGI is barely noticeable, Gollum looks REAL!!! LOL. Frodo at the Cracks of Doom…loved it, loved it, loved it. Terrific acting, by both Elijah Wood and the underrated Sean Astin. He should be given more recognition than he has, he didn’t even get nominated for best supporting actor! This isn’t fair! What is the Academy thinking? Sean Astin, you did an incredible, outstanding, fantastic job and you stole the show. You really did. I was astounded. WOW. Go you! But I can’t leave out all the other talented faces! Elijah, Billy, Dom, Viggo, Orli, David, Bernard, Ian, Miranda, John, Liv, Cate, Hugo, John N….wow. Truly outstanding. Incredible. I can’t believe it’s over…how can it be over?!?!!??! *sobs uncontrollably* PJ, we want the Hobbit! And after that maybe you can do something with the Silmarillion…
Namarie, mellon nin….
~Ruby
Posted on February 8, 2004 03:13 AM | #
21. Mike the Dike said:
What I’m asking is: Where were the two watchers? Why did they draw up a superflous connection between Arwen and the Ring? AND where was the MOUTH OF SAURON? When I watched the movie I saw the TWO WATCHERS, but then they cut to Sam inside the tower…obviously this scene was filmed. Same with the Mouth of Sauron. BUT THE ARWEN THING? WHAT THE HELL??? She apears once in this book, and the suddenly slice everything together? Somebody just tell me what the HELL is going on?????
Posted on February 23, 2004 03:06 PM | #
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