The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Directed by:
Peter JacksonCinematography:
Andrew LesnieComposer:
Howard ShoreCast:
Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
Sauron's forces have laid siege to Minas Tirith, the capital of Gondor, in their efforts to eliminate the race of men. The once-great kingdom, watched over by a fading steward, has never been in more desperate need of its king. But can Aragorn answer the call of his heritage and become what he was born to be? In no small measure, the fate of Middle-earth rests on his broad shoulders. With the final battle joined and the legions of darkness gathering, Gandalf urgently tries to rally Gondor's broken army to action. He is aided by Rohan's King Theoden, who unites his warriors for history's biggest test. Yet even with their courage and passionate loyalty, the forces of men--with Eowyn and Merry hidden among them--are no match for the enemies swarming against Gondor. Still, in the face of great losses, they charge forward into the battle of their lifetimes, tied together by their singular goal to keep Sauron distracted and give the Ring Bearer a chance to complete his quest. Their hopes rest with Frodo, a tiny but determined hobbit making a perilous trip across treacherous enemy lands to cast the One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom. The closer Frodo gets to his final destination, the heavier his burden becomes and the more he must rely on Samwise Gamgee. Gollum--and the Ring itself--will test Frodo's allegiances and, ultimately, his humanity. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (8)
A long shadow lies over the land, dark wings extend to the west. The tower is shaking; fate approaches the tombs of kings. The dead awaken; for the treacherous, the hour has come; they will stand again at the Stone of Erech and hear the horn's call from the mountains. Whose horn will it be? Who will summon them from the gray twilight, the forgotten nation? The heir to whom they swore. From the North he shall come, driven by desperation: he will pass through the doors of the Paths of the Dead. A magnificent film in every detail and the true culmination of the most beloved trilogy. The Return of the King is an emotionally charged punctuation mark to a gripping journey that has fundamentally changed my life. Each part is fully appreciable only after watching the extended version, but in the case of the final stage, it's not so much about plot twists as it is about the impact on emotions. The Healing Houses are a shining example that embodies my imagination from reading. And which part is the best? After four viewings out of five, I would say that the leading piece of the mosaic is The Fellowship, and the fifth time would be none other than The Return of the King, but The Lord of the Rings is in my eyes an invincible whole and the greatest saga in the history of cinematography.
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Like The Two Towers, it was initially stumbling and torn by "forced" cuts, but over time it’s utterly immersive. While the Fellowship will keep a primate intrigued by its great complexity, The Return of the King triumphs with a massive epic and, of course, a wonderful ending that is rather cheesy, but instead of artificiality and fabrication, it breathes a directorial love of the story and, in particular, realism on the part of actors, who often make up for minor defects in the craftsmanship. In the end, The Return of the King confirmed to me what I had felt before. The effects are nice, but if it wasn't for the heroes, this film would just be an inaccessible piece of ice. But it fascinates and consumes hundreds of thousands of people. A wonderful story in a beautiful garment, Peter Jackson bought a ticket to film heaven... P.S.: after the second viewing, I'm putting The Return of the King at the head of the trilogy. If the film can impress me so powerfully a second time, it's a sign of high quality. Nirvana. P.S.S. The extended version is slowly deserving a sixth star, as even the slightly intermittent tempo and unnatural editing become a thing of the past, the characters get even more space, the plot a deeper motivation, and the traditionally perverted humor of the Gimli-Legolas duo is also there. See and die!
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One of the best movies of all time. What else can I say? I've been crying for the past hour basically non-stop with it. Only "Big Fish" managed to evoke this in me, but only the first time. A beautiful culmination of the whole opus, to which even Peter Jackson himself could no longer match. Although maybe he will surprise us with the third part of "The Hobbit". I simply have no words for "The Return of the King". A magnificent film, where everything came together in the right place and at the right time.
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The editing is too brutal, the characterization of the main protagonists changes during the movie, the ending is needlessly tearful and it’s dragged out maddeningly. But who care when there are so many incredibly powerful scenes that you only realize the downsides of the movie long after you have left the movie theater. This time the extended edition is half-way between interesting additional footage like with The Fellowship and a totally different (and better) movie like with The Two Towers. Some of the scenes added are pointless, but many of them do much to augment the movie as a whole. For instance, it is fascinating how a couple of extra sentences manage to give a completely different meaning to things and depth to the tragedy of Théoden’s fate than in the theatrical version.
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The first part was absolutely perfect and I praised it a lot, but I was so impressed by the final part of the trilogy that any praise is simply not enough to describe the admirable refinement, the plot continuity and the immense elegance with which the wizard Jackson moves in Middle-earth. I have perhaps never seen another film that layers all the action and spectacular scenes literally one on top of the other and still manages to build up in such a delicate and memorable way. After the great Fellowship came the obviously weaker second film, and I was expecting from Return of the King nothing but an epic and legendary ending, in which Jackson will not spare the viewer and will serve the biggest visual feast in their life. And all I can say is mission accomplished. I've watched a finished and amazing blockbuster that makes all the important elements from the first two parts even more striking and twice as impressive, and which clearly ranks first among all movie finales ever made (Harry Potter is just a weak concoction). I took a deep breath at the beginning, and in the flood of utterly authentic battle turmoil and the final harrowing climb up Mount Doom, I'm not even sure I didn't break the world record for holding my breath and not blinking. This is exactly what every fan wants to see, this is a proud winner of 11 Oscars, this is a legend!!
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