The Lord Of The Rings - The Return Of The King (DVD)

...a review of Lord Of The Rings : The Return of the King when we’ve already had several excellent ones to read? Some of you may well be asking that question, which is why I asked it of myself before sitting down to write. And yes, I still felt compelled to write it. These are the main reasons why.

As if it wasn’t enough of a reason on its own, I categorically loved it, sat rooted to the spot for three hours and more, eyes agog, as I ...
...write about it, to share the magic of Return of The King with anyone as yet undecided about seeing it.

Also, I approached the film (in fact, all three of the films) from a very different perspective than most of the people who have reviewed it here to date – I have never read the books; yes, shame on me, I have an English degree and yet have never read this undeniable classic. I blame my dad for trying to get me to read The Silmarillion ... more

Now why on earth write a review of Lord Of The Rings : The Return of the King when we’ve already had several excellent ones to read? Some of you may well be asking that question, which is why I asked it of myself before sitting down to write. And yes, I still felt compelled to write it. These are the main reasons why.

As if it wasn’t enough of a reason on its own, I categorically loved it, sat rooted to the spot for three hours and more, eyes agog, as I was swept back into Middle Earth for the most gripping adventure yet. A fitting conclusion for this tremendous trilogy, it has touched my heart, swelled my soul – and inspired me to write about it, to share the magic of Return of The King with anyone as yet undecided about seeing it.

Also, I approached the film (in fact, all three of the films) from a very different perspective than most of the people who have reviewed it here to date – I have never read the books; yes, shame on me, I have an English degree and yet have never read this undeniable classic. I blame my dad for trying to get me to read The Silmarillion first – the first in Tolkien’s series of books set in Middle Earth, which drones on reading like a who’s who of ancient Middle Earth. Anyway, I figure this gives me a slightly different take on things, having had no basis for comparison and taking the film purely on the merits of how it works in itself.

***BACKGROUND – THE STORY SO FAR***

For anyone who is sitting there muttering “And what on earth is Lord of the Rings?” few though they may be, the story of the film is based on the book by J.R.R.Tolkien; the book was split into three parts, and so to preserve the spirit of the book, it has been made into three films – The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and the most recent, Return of the King. The story centres around hobbit Frodo Baggins, and is set in an imaginary world called Middle Earth, which has been created so lovingly and with such attention to detail in the films that it almost seems as if it might once have been a real place. It is a historical setting – the characters have unusual, magnificent names and include hobbits, elves, wizards and dwarves as well as men; they wear the armour and weaponry of the age of chivalry. Frodo is charged with a fearsome task by the wizard Gandalf, to dispose of the last of three Rings of Power which, in the evil hands of Sauron, would turn the whole of Middle Earth to darkness. A fellowship is formed to help Frodo overcome the evils spreading through Middle Earth from Mordor. While Frodo and fellow hobbit Sam take the long, dark road to Mordor to the only place the ring can be destroyed, the mountain of fire, the rest of the fellowship prove their courage as they strive to unite the good people of Middle Earth against the common enemy, facing battles against the terrible Orc armies of Sauron and evil wizard Saruman. There are many subplots, the most important being that of Aragorn who is heir to the throne of Gondor and must prove his worthiness to be king.

***THE STORY – AN ENDING, BUT A WELL-CRAFTED ONE***

Without giving too much away, in Return of the King the plot of the story is probably weaker than that of The Two Towers, in that it really only continues with the same threads, bringing them to a thoroughly satisfying conclusion and tying up loose ends such as Aragorn and Arwen’s love story. For this reason, I would not recommend going to see The Return of the King as a stand-alone film. It is NOT a stand-alone film, it is a conclusion to a complex epic, and the first two films really need to be watched first; I doubt I would have enjoyed this film as much had I not cared so much about the characters and their destinies, a feeling which had built up throughout the preceding instalments. Having secured the loyalty of the kingdom of Rohan in The Two Towers, Aragorn and Gandalf have only to convince Denethor, the steward of Gondor, to unite with them against Sauron’s forces. Frodo and Sam, however, still have an uphill (literally) struggle ahead of them to dispose of the Ring, as Frodo submits to its power further and further until their very friendship is jeopardised. The film switches between the mountains of Mordor, the tiered city Minas Tirith in Gondor, and the armies of Rohan as they draw ever nearer to their destiny, showing the development of the story threads in turn, at a good pace – not too fast to spoil the suspense, and plenty of action to stave off any possible boredom.

***THE MAGIC OF RETURN OF THE KING***

***DARKNESS AND LIGHT***

The mood of the film plunges deeper into the darkness than its predecessor The Two Towers, which to me is a real strength of the story. It seems almost as if the darkness deepens before the light can shine through. The threat of the intimidating Orc armies in their overwhelming numbers at times make it seem impossible that victory can occur. The Orcs appear ugly, even deformed, with sinewy discoloured flesh and dark empty eyes; they are strong, powerful killers who will stop at nothing, for killing seems to be their primary purpose. The lands of Isengard and Mordor where they tread are lands of fire and black, shadowy mountains harbouring all manner of evils, some of which are revealed in this film, terrible creatures living in dank caves even Gimli the dwarf would rather not enter. The ultimate symbol of evil, Sauron’s eye, is also seen much more in this film, suggesting his evil is closer at hand as the eye of fire swivels to cast its watchful gaze over the efforts of the forces of good. Still more disturbing, several of the characters descend into a downward spiral, showing their emptiness as they are taken by the darkness – most significantly so Gollum or Smeagol, whose darker side is revealed in this film, and worse still Frodo, who we have come to know well as a brave, determined and good character. Towards the end he seems almost lost, as the traces of Frodo the innocent hobbit slip from memory.

As well as creating horror, tension and suspense in the story, this portrayal of darkness and despair serves an even greater purpose – that the light may be shown to shine ever brighter in the actions of the Fellowship and their comrades. After all, if they manage to bring their world back into light from the very brink of falling into wrack and ruin, it’s so much more dramatic a contrast, and so much more magnificent a feat, don’t you think?

***THE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS – CASTING & CHARACTERS***

That brings me nicely onto another untold strength of the film, which continues to prove that the casting is a job well done. Much of the story of this film is also devoted to character development, which works well as those who’ve watched from the beginning will already be attached to the characters of the Fellowship and eager to see them achieve their destinies. Viggo Mortensen, who has always been a classic choice for rugged, smouldering ranger Aragorn, shines his brightest in this film as the character stands up to be counted as the heir to the throne of Gondor. Having already proved himself worthy in battle, in this film his inspiring leadership and unfaltering courage are invaluable on the road to victory. Ian McKellen manages to retain the kindness and gentle spirit of white wizard Gandalf in tender scenes with young charge Pippin, yet show untold rage in his defence of Minas Tirith. Billy Boyd as mischievous hobbit Peregrin (Pippin) Took is a surprise delight in this film; in the previous two, he is really one-dimensional providing moments of light relief, whereas he puts his talent for mischief to good use in this film and shows not only a revived courage but a real depth of feeling towards the other characters – his delight in being reunited with best friend Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and his joy at Frodo’s success (Elijah Wood) are some of the most poignant moments of the film. Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) are not developed much in this film; their friendship, developed in The Two Towers, provides a little light relief as well as a most moving moment before the final battle. Sean Astin, who plays Samwise Gamgee, continues to play the loyal hobbit, ever growing in confidence, strongly.

It would be a shame, after commending the actors in the main roles, not to mention the rest of the cast, who from this small group in The Fellowship of the Ring have grown to include many characters who have made their contribution to the cause along the way. The action, terror and drama of the film, and particularly the battle scenes, derive greatly from the outstanding acting of the cast, who show us a whole range of very believable emotions from sadness and grief, to anger, rage and unshakeable courage. It is the reactions of the actors to every nuance of the story that draws you in and makes you feel almost as if you have become part of the danger and adventure.

***KING OF ADVENTURES – SCREENPLAY & EFFECTS***

However, this is not the only thing that made me feel as if I had been pulled into Middle Earth, and the cast are not the only people who should be commended for this work. For Peter Jackson, the director, this was surely a labour of love, so cleverly and painstakingly done as it was. Close-ups, wide shots and clever camera angles seemed to come at just the right moment to show me the person or view I really wanted to see at any given moment. Especially magnificent were sweeping views of the landscape below from a great height – the tops of mountains and the highest turrets of the castles. A vision I am sure will stay with me forever is the first glimpse of the intricately-designed city of Minas Tirith, the white towers and levels leading up to the topmost spire, a supreme fortress and a glimmer of hope on the horizon. The direction is excellent, making models of places seem real, and bringing computer animated animals to life, so intertwined with the action of the cast that they seamlessly mingle together to create a bewitching spectacle. The battle scenes are a work of art, and enhanced by the soundtrack which builds up rousing music only to cut off as the armies meet so we can hear the clash of sword on sword, the cries of rage and anguish, and the pounding hooves of the horses. There is so much action going on at once, cutting from main character to main character and panning out to show the wider picture, it is all at once confusing and exciting – my heart didn’t stop pounding from start to finish. In the midst of all this, Legolas the valiant elf is given his ultimate moment of glory as he single-handedly defeats a whole troop of Oliphant-mounted Orcs with his nimble feet and archery skills.

I’m not all that into computer animation but without it this wouldn’t be the same film! Looking at the website, www.lordoftherings.net, many of the creatures including the horses and Sauron’s flying fleet of birds of prey, are computer-animated, and so well done that their movements are true for creatures of their kind to the point that you almost forget they are not real. The overbearing, evil, smoky dark skies and the amazing eye of Sauron, not to mention the creature Gollum (based on the movements of talented actor Andy Serkis) are also computer creations. A lot of people I know seem a bit worried that the existence of the Lord of the Rings films will spoil the journeys into imagination that could be afforded by reading the book, but it seems to me that the film has been brought out at this point in time because the technology and the expertise was available to faithfully create a vivid picture of what is described there. The layering of scenery, animation, carefully created props, rousing soundtrack and excellent acting is surely as rich as any description created by words; I’m happy to be swept along by the vision that’s been created for us, and I know people who have read the book who are amazed by how closely the films matched their imagined picture.

***BACK TO THE DARKNESS FOR A MOMENT…***

All these wonderful points about the film far, far outweigh any criticism I have of it, but there were one or two things I think could have been improved and in the interests of writing a balanced review, I must share them. It is because of these points that I said after seeing the film, “The Return of the King had the best scenes, but The Two Towers was the best of the three.” You see, both of these films had action, romance, adventure, a strong cast, a well-timed, touching and convincing script, darkness and monsters, and superb effects. But what The Return of the King didn’t have was a good ending. After the main conclusion to the story, we had about fifteen minutes more of what seemed like unnecessary drivel. The excitement and magnificence of the final battle was rounded off nicely with a heart-warming scene showing the remaining main characters meeting their destiny against the amazing backdrop of Minas Tirith, which made me cry such was the depth of emotion attached to the scene (yes, in the cinema – I’ve never been so stirred that I’ve cried in a packed-out cinema before). This I think should have been the ending.

We then had a slow-moving and tedious sequence showing what happened after all the adventures, the key point here being after the adventures and therefore rather flat after all the glory and honour! I can only assume that this was in keeping with the book, but hey, wait a minute, this is a film, and perhaps because I have never read the book I saw this as a weak ending, a thorough anticlimax. This of course is only my humble opinion, but to me the greatness of the film was somewhat sapped away by this add-on, which might have been better placed as an epilogue on the DVD.

The other thing I noticed, and again, maybe more because I haven’t read the book, is that I never fully understood who or what Sauron was. Was he an actual person that we never got to see, was he a force contained in the ‘eye’…the film never explicitly drew this out, and it was about an hour later that I suddenly began to wonder. Of course, if you have read the book as well, you probably know, but should the film-maker assume that everyone has? Especially if it’s going to be an enduring film to be enjoyed for years to come, which it should be? Well, I don’t think so.

***JOIN THE FELLOWSHIP – ONE AND ALL***

This film is for everyone, young and old, whether you’ve read the book or not, male or female. It can be taken on many different levels, and while it is long (about 3 hours) once you are engaged in the story it is hard to take your eyes off until you have reached the conclusion. It’s showing in cinemas now, and in our experience, is still very busy at the evening showings. We were very lucky as we got the last two tickets and we were there half an hour early, so I really recommend booking to secure your seats – and getting there earlier than usual so as to avoid neck-ache from sitting too close, for too long! It has a 12A certificate, which means that children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult. I would say it is important, if you’re taking kids, to be sure they’re ready for quite scary material; the battle violence is not over-graphic but there are some quite sad moments, and there are also more mentally disturbing bits with Frodo, Gollum and the creatures they meet in the caves, including a spider-like one for any arachnophobes out there. However, it’s not necessarily unsuitable as the themes are universal and important themes for life, as well as the film. Oh, and if you’re thinking of waiting for the DVD, it IS worth the cinema prices to get the full effect of the wonderful screenplay and effects.

***AND THE LIGHT TRIUMPHS…***

Still, I think you’ve already guessed that I loved this film, in many ways more than the other two. It contains the greatest, most exciting, most terrifying, most moving scenes I have ever watched, although it has managed to topple neither The Two Towers nor Braveheart in my favourite film stakes. I would urge anyone to watch it as the sentiments and visions in the film will stay with you forever, and dare I say this film has the power to make us feel, even temporarily, like better people with the potential to achieve greatness. For through all the themes, of true love, friendship and loyalty, courage and honour, darkness and light, good and evil, emerges an even greater image – not so much the magnificence of modern film making (although it contributes to the overall effect) but in the determination of Frodo and Sam, the loyalty and skill of Legolas and Gimli, the friendship and bravery of Pippin and Merry, the use of power for the good by Gandalf, and especially in Aragorn’s courage and strength of spirit…

… the magnificence of the human soul.
 

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