Four hours of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, the extended cut, and by many the definitive edition. For a long time, it has been my favorite of the trilogy, has that changed during my rewatch of these films? The 4k blu-ray is once again perfect in every aspect, from the Dolby Atmos which makes every sound effect and musical cue from the great Howard Shore sound excellent and loud, then to the crisp picture quality along with HDR and Dolby Vision. Truly incredible. Peter Jackson begins the film by showing us the backstory of Smeagol and how he acquired the ring, a heartbreaking scene with him killing his cousin to grab the ring from him, then his evolution to Gollum. Afterwards, we get a scene where Aragorn and his companions come to Isengard and reunite with Merry and Pippin, before meeting Saruman where we see his demise which unfortunately wasn't in the theatrical cut. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half stars out of four, saying that it is "such a crowning achievement, such a visionary use of all the tools of special effects, such a pure spectacle, that it can be enjoyed even by those who have not seen the first two films." Talking about the whole trilogy, Ebert said that he admired it "more as a whole than in its parts", and that The Return of the King certified The Lord of the Rings as "a work of bold ambition in a time of cinematic timidity".
Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron's army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.
Like the preceding films in the trilogy, The Return of the King has an ensemble cast, and some of the cast and their respective characters include: Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins, Ian McKellen as Gandalf the White, Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn, Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee, Andy Serkis as Sméagol / Gollum, Billy Boyd as Peregrin Took, Dominic Monaghan as Meriadoc Brandybuck, John Rhys-Davies as Gimli, Orlando Bloom as Legolas, Bernard Hill as Théoden, Miranda Otto as Éowyn, David Wenham as Faramir, Karl Urban as Éomer, Hugo Weaving as Elrond, Liv Tyler as Arwen, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel and John Noble as Denethor.
There are a lot of great dramatic scenes in this film which are full of emotional depth, but there are also numerous great action sequences. I think this whole movie is edited perfectly, a specific scene of both action and dramatic with focus on the editing is when Faramir is riding out to charge the orcs who took his previous defending position. This was a suicide charge edited in a way which placed focus on the drama and heartbreaking moment as Faramir have truly lost hope, but manages to survive. The scene consists of the charge, Pippin singing a sad song which fits the scene perfectly, but also of Denethor eating. It shows how Denethor doesn't care and the vicious style of him eating resembles the murder taking place simultaneously. As King Théoden gathers his army for the upcoming battle against Sauron, Elrond tells Aragorn that Arwen is dying, having refused to leave Middle-earth. Elrond gives Aragorn Andúril, reforged from the shards of King Elendil's sword Narsil, and urges him to commit to claiming Gondor's throne, to which he is heir. I think this is a big reason why this film was my favorite back in the day, Aragorn is like King Arthur in a way (a story I absolutely adored as a child-teen) and during this scene, he gets the sword which is reminiscent of Excalibur. He's then joined by Legolas and Gimli, and travels to Paths of the Dead. There's a bunch of lore about this place, something I never truly understood and I always found this big sequence to be quite lackluster. But now, my mind has changed slightly. The ghost army and the cursed King remains not my cup of tea and I would have seen something else happen than the place crumble down on them which felt anti-climactic, but for Aragorn's arc it's excellent. The battle and siege on Minas Tirith is big and epic in scale, as well as its long and tense. Gandalf acting as a general never gets old and most likely saved the entire kingdom, I've never noticed it before but the Gondorian knights and soldiers had no morale nor strategic thinking of what they were doing, which was quite realistic because of their acting King is losing his mind and thinking everything is lost. Makes for what's to come so much better, first with Gandalf leading the men and then Théoden who later arrives with his army. This big battle is concurrent with Frodo and Sam getting the ring to Mount Doom, prior to them reaching it, the confrontation between Frodo and Gollum takes place with Gollum executing his plan which he made at the end of 'The Two Towers'. Gollum is such a brilliant character, how long gone and corrupted he is, yet you can sympathize with him. He's a brilliant morally grey villain. When the army of Rohan arrives on the battlefield, their theme is played as all the riders ride into battle, that's an epic scene. For now, it's solely the orc army, and then the Haradrim arrives. This whole action sequence is truly mesmerizing and full of entertainment, masterly directed by Peter Jackson and choreographed brilliantly by whoever's responsible. The Witch-king mortally wounds Théoden in the battle, then comes Éowyn and slays the Witch-king with Merry's help, in one epic and dramatic scene full of emotional depth. Then comes Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli with their ghost army to the rescue, and the kill count game returns. It was Frodo who carried the ring, went through all the horrible things related to it. But don't ever forget it was Sam who carried him and served as the good. Inside Mount Doom has one of the most iconic shots in cinema, Frodo holding the ring out with light coming out from the lava onto his face. Gollum grabs the ring and after a struggle falls down into the lava with the ring, a fitting ending for his character, a fitting end for the trilogy. Then the Fellowship reunites, everyone except for Boromir who have lived on throughout the trilogy, mostly with the extended cuts. Thereafter Aragorn's character arc fulfills and he remains my favorite character throughout the trilogy with perhaps Sam being second. The acting in the farewell scene is excellent, I feel for Sam there, how emotional he got when Frodo tells his Hobbit friends he's leaving with Gandalf and his uncle. There are so many great performances in this film, but Sean Astin, Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis were the best in my opinion.
Jackson's Middle-earth was primarily designed by Alan Lee and John Howe, who had earlier illustrated editions of Tolkien's books. It was created by Weta Workshop, who handled all the trilogy's weapons, armour, miniatures, prosthetics, and creatures; the Art Department built the sets. The city of Minas Tirith was built from parts of the set of Helm's Deep, while the wide shots were from miniatures. Without Weta Workshop, I'm sure this film and the trilogy as a whole wouldn't have been as great, their work is felt in every scene, in every frame. For the cinematography, what Andrew Lesnie did was truly breathtaking, superb cinematography throughout the film. Like the previous films in the trilogy, The Return of the King is widely recognised as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. The film received numerous accolades; it won all eleven awards for which it was nominated, including Best Picture, during the Oscars.
Does it remain my favorite? In one way, yes. But I think I actually prefer 'The Two Towers' more now than I used to. Is Return of the King worthy of all the eleven Oscars it got? Indeed it was, the film is a landmark in cinema and one of the best films I've seen. The performances, direction, writing, production design, visual effects, costume design and the grand scope of the story and emotional depth it has. The film is incredible and a brilliant conclusion to a trilogy that has aged like fine wine.
Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron's army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.
Like the preceding films in the trilogy, The Return of the King has an ensemble cast, and some of the cast and their respective characters include: Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins, Ian McKellen as Gandalf the White, Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn, Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee, Andy Serkis as Sméagol / Gollum, Billy Boyd as Peregrin Took, Dominic Monaghan as Meriadoc Brandybuck, John Rhys-Davies as Gimli, Orlando Bloom as Legolas, Bernard Hill as Théoden, Miranda Otto as Éowyn, David Wenham as Faramir, Karl Urban as Éomer, Hugo Weaving as Elrond, Liv Tyler as Arwen, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel and John Noble as Denethor.
There are a lot of great dramatic scenes in this film which are full of emotional depth, but there are also numerous great action sequences. I think this whole movie is edited perfectly, a specific scene of both action and dramatic with focus on the editing is when Faramir is riding out to charge the orcs who took his previous defending position. This was a suicide charge edited in a way which placed focus on the drama and heartbreaking moment as Faramir have truly lost hope, but manages to survive. The scene consists of the charge, Pippin singing a sad song which fits the scene perfectly, but also of Denethor eating. It shows how Denethor doesn't care and the vicious style of him eating resembles the murder taking place simultaneously. As King Théoden gathers his army for the upcoming battle against Sauron, Elrond tells Aragorn that Arwen is dying, having refused to leave Middle-earth. Elrond gives Aragorn Andúril, reforged from the shards of King Elendil's sword Narsil, and urges him to commit to claiming Gondor's throne, to which he is heir. I think this is a big reason why this film was my favorite back in the day, Aragorn is like King Arthur in a way (a story I absolutely adored as a child-teen) and during this scene, he gets the sword which is reminiscent of Excalibur. He's then joined by Legolas and Gimli, and travels to Paths of the Dead. There's a bunch of lore about this place, something I never truly understood and I always found this big sequence to be quite lackluster. But now, my mind has changed slightly. The ghost army and the cursed King remains not my cup of tea and I would have seen something else happen than the place crumble down on them which felt anti-climactic, but for Aragorn's arc it's excellent. The battle and siege on Minas Tirith is big and epic in scale, as well as its long and tense. Gandalf acting as a general never gets old and most likely saved the entire kingdom, I've never noticed it before but the Gondorian knights and soldiers had no morale nor strategic thinking of what they were doing, which was quite realistic because of their acting King is losing his mind and thinking everything is lost. Makes for what's to come so much better, first with Gandalf leading the men and then Théoden who later arrives with his army. This big battle is concurrent with Frodo and Sam getting the ring to Mount Doom, prior to them reaching it, the confrontation between Frodo and Gollum takes place with Gollum executing his plan which he made at the end of 'The Two Towers'. Gollum is such a brilliant character, how long gone and corrupted he is, yet you can sympathize with him. He's a brilliant morally grey villain. When the army of Rohan arrives on the battlefield, their theme is played as all the riders ride into battle, that's an epic scene. For now, it's solely the orc army, and then the Haradrim arrives. This whole action sequence is truly mesmerizing and full of entertainment, masterly directed by Peter Jackson and choreographed brilliantly by whoever's responsible. The Witch-king mortally wounds Théoden in the battle, then comes Éowyn and slays the Witch-king with Merry's help, in one epic and dramatic scene full of emotional depth. Then comes Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli with their ghost army to the rescue, and the kill count game returns. It was Frodo who carried the ring, went through all the horrible things related to it. But don't ever forget it was Sam who carried him and served as the good. Inside Mount Doom has one of the most iconic shots in cinema, Frodo holding the ring out with light coming out from the lava onto his face. Gollum grabs the ring and after a struggle falls down into the lava with the ring, a fitting ending for his character, a fitting end for the trilogy. Then the Fellowship reunites, everyone except for Boromir who have lived on throughout the trilogy, mostly with the extended cuts. Thereafter Aragorn's character arc fulfills and he remains my favorite character throughout the trilogy with perhaps Sam being second. The acting in the farewell scene is excellent, I feel for Sam there, how emotional he got when Frodo tells his Hobbit friends he's leaving with Gandalf and his uncle. There are so many great performances in this film, but Sean Astin, Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis were the best in my opinion.
Jackson's Middle-earth was primarily designed by Alan Lee and John Howe, who had earlier illustrated editions of Tolkien's books. It was created by Weta Workshop, who handled all the trilogy's weapons, armour, miniatures, prosthetics, and creatures; the Art Department built the sets. The city of Minas Tirith was built from parts of the set of Helm's Deep, while the wide shots were from miniatures. Without Weta Workshop, I'm sure this film and the trilogy as a whole wouldn't have been as great, their work is felt in every scene, in every frame. For the cinematography, what Andrew Lesnie did was truly breathtaking, superb cinematography throughout the film. Like the previous films in the trilogy, The Return of the King is widely recognised as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. The film received numerous accolades; it won all eleven awards for which it was nominated, including Best Picture, during the Oscars.
Does it remain my favorite? In one way, yes. But I think I actually prefer 'The Two Towers' more now than I used to. Is Return of the King worthy of all the eleven Oscars it got? Indeed it was, the film is a landmark in cinema and one of the best films I've seen. The performances, direction, writing, production design, visual effects, costume design and the grand scope of the story and emotional depth it has. The film is incredible and a brilliant conclusion to a trilogy that has aged like fine wine.
Tell Your Friends