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- Cert:
- Running time: 200 minutes
- Year: 2003
- Released: 17th December 2003
- Widescreen Ratio: 2.35:1
- Sound: DTS-ES/Dolby EX 6.1/SDDS
- Director:
- Peter Jackson
(Bad Taste, Meet The Feebles, Braindead, Heavenly Creatures, The Frighteners, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy)
Producers:
- Peter Jackson, Michael Lynne, Mark Ordesky, Barrie M. Osborne, Rick Porras,Jamie Selkirk, Robert Shaye, Fran Walsh, Bob Weinstein & Harvey Weinstein
Screenplay:
- Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh & Phillipa Boyens
(based on the novel by J.R.R Tolkien)
Cinematographer:
- Andrew Lesnie
Music Score:
- Howard Shore
Cast:
- Frodo Baggins: Elijah Wood
Sam Gamgee: Sean Astin
Gandalph: Ian McKellen
Aragorn: Viggo Mortensen
Merry: Dominic Monaghan
Pippin: Billy Boyd
Gimli/Treebeard, voice: John Rhys-Davies
Legolas: Orlando Bloom
Gollum/Smeagol: Andy Serkis
Arwen: Liv Tyler
Éowyn: Mirando Otto
King Théoden: Bernard Hill
Denethor: John Noble
Faramir: David Wenham
Elrond: Hugo Weaving
Éomér: Karl Urban
Galadriel: Cate Blanchett
Bilbo Baggins: Ian Holm
Deagol: Thomas Robins
And so the journey comes to an end.
After five years of production, andthree blockbuster movies, Peter Jackson’s acclaimed trilogy of J.R.RTolkien’s novels finally comes to a close. The Return Of The King, after aprologue explaining the downfall of Gollum, picks up exactly where The TwoTowers climaxed. Frodo and Sam are being shepherded by the treacherousGollum towards Mordor to destroy the One Ring, wizard Gandalph and the restof the Fellowship prepare to meet the full-force of Sauron’s armies at thehuman city of Minus Tirith, and Aragorn must accept his destiny as heir tothe throne of Gondor…
Third acts are always difficult in screenplays, and even more so fortrilogies. While Fellowship had the unenviable task of explaining Tolkien’scomplicated Middle Earth, it was by far the most accessible movie due to itslinear plot. The Two Towers successfully added complication and additionalcharacters, but despite its fabulous finale at Helm’s Deep, it wasoccasionally quite maudlin. The Return Of The King has to pull together allthe plot-threads and weave them into a cohesive and entertaining lastchapter. Unlike other movie franchises, the prospects of a sequel to theevents of the movie are zero. The success of Jackson’s trilogy rests quiteheavily on Return Of The King – and what a burden that must be.
Of course, J.R.R Tolkien’s books are the inspiration and guidelines forJackson’s movies – so Tolkien himself has to share some of any blame. Butthankfully the successful literary trilogy has been perfectly realized oncelluloid. Jackson has altered the ending quite drastically – making it farless apocryphal than Tolkien’s, while the Two Towers sequence involvingShelob the giant spider has been mixed into the events of the final filminstead. But these changes, and others, do not detract from an expertlyhandled piece of filmmaking.
Again, the cast provide audiences with truly memorably characters – now asolid part of movie legend. Unfortunately, some of the characters remainlittle more than background amusement (Legolas and Gimli, yet again), butothers really do grow into something more substantial (Merry and Pippin’sadventures in battle, and Sam’s heroism, primarily). Liv Tyler‘s Arwencontinues to be forced into a rather limp romance with Aragorn (a subplotshoved into the trilogy by Jackson for feminine audience appeal), and otherpotentially fascinating characters spend much of the movie with little todo. Miranda Otto‘s Éowyn is such a neglected character, who as compensationhas a heroic sequence with the Nazgul-riding Witchking that goes some way toappeasement, but highlights how more interesting she could have been with amore immersive back-story.
WETA’s special-effects continue to be a source of much admiration. Theyreally do have a realism and vitality to them that other effects studiossomehow haven’t managed to capture with the same level of success. From CGIlandscapes, rampaging beasts, giant trolls, swooping Nazguls, and theremarkably realistic Gollum, the studio has become the zenith for digitalintegration. Rarely does a visual effect detract from the story, orneedlessly appear, with only a few shots badly composited and distracting toaudiences. For the most part the sheer scale and breath-taking panorama’sare beguiling and enchanting to behold.
Likewise, Howard Shore‘s score is magnificent and must now rank amongst oneof the most beautifully composed music scores ever created for cinema – atruly wonderful collection of emotive and enthralling melodies. Elsewherethe technical brilliance of the production design, costumes and make-up arewithout doubt. The Return Of The King effectively provides audiences witheverything that made the previous two movies so fantastic – good acting, aninvolving plot, stunning effects, rousing music, and brilliant design.
But there are problems, undoubtedly. While the film’s pacing is exceptional(it feels like the shortest film, while actually being the longest!) thefinale does drag on for too long – with the credits taking an eternity tomaterialize. Purists may also bemoan the movie’s happier ending, at oddswith the downbeat and more sobering novel. Also, while the battle at MinusTirith is a technical marvel, it somehow lacks the atmosphere of the Helm’sDeep siege from The Two Towers. It was also quite frustrating thatChristopher Lee‘s Saruman doesn’t even feature in the movie – which robs thetrilogy of a satisfying conclusion for his character (who was practicallythe lead villain in the previous films!) Of course, the inevitable DVDextended edition should remedy some of these complaints…
On balance, The Return Of The King marks a grand end to what has been aremarkable filmmaking event of recent years. It’s epic, visually stunning,character-driven and occasionally quite emotional. It will be veryinteresting to see how writer-director Peter Jackson’s career progressesfrom here – will Rings hang around his neck like George Lucas’ Star Wars? Orunlike Lucas, will Jackson break free of his phenomenon and create many moreworks of genius? Next up from the Kiwi director is a remake of King Kong -the film that inspired his filmmaking career. On a personal level, successwith this Kong could be even more important than simply creating thegreatest film trilogy ever made…
SCREENPLAY
PERFORMANCES
SPECIAL FX
SOUND/MUSIC
OVERALLAnd with hindsight (and with relation to each other) my scores for each film:
The Two Towers
The Return Of The King
Trilogy Overall
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.