Rated PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and frightening images.
201 min / 251 min (extended edition)
Is there any hope, Gandalf, for Frodo and Sam? -Pippin
Synopsis
Frodo and Sam have escaped Osgiliath with Gollum as their guide, but their road is a most perilous one. Gollum has lead them directly into the darkness and to steep staircase that will lead them through the tunnel and finally into Mordor. Sam is still un-trusting of Gollum and suspects he will betray both himself and Frodo. With Frodo’s growing weakness his judgement becomes clouded and he begins to look to Gollum for advice. Unfortunately, that advice may lead him to his death.
Aragorn, Gandalf and the riders of Rohan are relieved from the victory at Helms Deep, but weary. When talk of aiding Gondor in an attack from the Orc’s of Mordor approaches it is quickly shunned by Theoden who feels slighted they weren’t supported by their allies sooner. Gandalf decides to ride to Minas Tirith and try and persuade Denethor to set up defenses. He takes Pippin with him, and for the first time he and Merry are separated in our story.
With Gandalf away Aragorn and Theoden begin preparations to aid Gondor, and begins recruitting all the solider’s he can. Aragorn sees they are not enough. Even 10,000 of them is not enough, and he begins to ask himself where else he could recruit soldiers. It becomes clear, if he is to return to his city as King, then he must walk the path of the dead force them to fulfill their oath and aid him in battle.
Success looks impossible for everyone, and when the final battle is upon them mere survival doesn’t seem possible. The End is hopelessly near.
Review
This final installment of the trilogy is incredibly powerful, and really evokes a compass of emotions. There is fear, hope, love, and desperation. Almost seven hours of story telling has brought the viewer to this point and Return Of The King does not let you down. It has all of the elements of both The Fellowship and The Two Towers. There is amazing character development and plot twists, but there is also one of the most overwhelming battles scenes ever onscreen.
Weta not only needed to construct a massive attack with tens of thousands of Orc’s attacking Minas Tirith, but they also had to make the White City itself, which was an enormous undergoing. With special effects including giant Olyphants, a towering city, the giant spider Shelob, Barad-Dur, Mount Doom, The Witch King, 10,000 Rohirrim, and a ghost army, Return Of The King was a special effects dynasty.
The friendship of Frodo and Sam is really challenged in this addition, and the realistic horror of each feeling betrayed by the other is heart wrenching. The fear behind the deception Gollum has created really escalates, leaving the two Hobbit’s seemingly vulnerable.
The emptiness of hopelessness is grasped so clearly in this film that it evokes real emotions. The battle of Minas Tirith is painful and awful to watch. It has amazing action sequences, but there are so many cuts to the actual demise of the city, and it’s people, despair is a greater emotion conveyed than the excitement of a great battle scene. When the Rohirrim show up and the light of the sun is behind them, facing overwhelming odds, yet giving that brief feel of hope, I choke up each time I watch it. It is one of the most powerful moments in cinema history. That one moment captures the entire essence of the entire story and brings it to a crashing pause of reflection, fear, and hope.
Howard Shore’s score is elegant and powerful. It really emotes the tone of the film, and makes it’s symmetry even more supreme. It’s beauty is just as important as each of our character’s and tells it’s own story without words being said.
Cast
- Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins
- Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee
- Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn Son Of Arathorn
- Ian McKellen as Gandalf/Mithrandir
- Sean Bean as Borimir
- Orlando Bloom as Legolas
- Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins
- Christopher Lee as Saruman
- Billy Boyd as Pippin
- Dominic Monaghan as Merry
- Bernard Hill as King Theoden
- Miranda Otts as Eowyn
- Brad Dourif as Grima Wormtongue
- Bruce Hopkins as Gamling
- Craig Parker as Haldir
- Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
- John Rhys-Davies as Gimili/Treebeard
- Andy Serkis as Gollum/Smeagal
- Karl Urban as Eomer
- David Wenham as Faramir
- John Noble as Denethor
- Liv Tyler as Arwen
- Hugo Weaving as Elrond
- Marton Csokas as Celeborn
The cast was phenomenal once again. In this addition it was really the interaction between Frodo and Sam that stood out. Both actors really sold their special relationship and the torment of the task before them. Jokes are made about the closeness of the two, but in honesty it was perfection in chemistry and really owning their character’s. Ian McKellan as Gandalf was just amazing. In each film Gandalf seems to get even grumpier, but his true evolvement is very subtle, but the change there. Only at the Grey Haven’s do you see the light and soft eyes of Gandalf the Grey that we saw in his first scene in the Shire. It was a fantastic character adaptation, and he was very much the Gandalf I had always pictured as a child.
Ratings and Suggestions
This trilogy is some of the most amazing film making ever in the history of cinema. A frequent question is what the best of the three is, but in truth there really isn’t one. Each are unique to the part of the story they told, and each are portions of the journey. The Beginning, the Middle, and the End. Return of the King was perfect closure to the Epic tale it began nearly ten hours before, and paid Tolkien the greatest respect by making this film the way it was interpreted by Jackson, Boyens, and Walsh. They were not just writers, they were the greatest of fans visually realizing one of the greatest stories ever told. As Gandalf said,
So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.
FRODO LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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