Return of the King - by Brad on 17:39 17 Dec 2003
I just saw LOTR: Return of the King and hacked out a quick review for the news blog, more later but I figure I better post it now:
I just saw LOTR: Return of the King and hacked out a quick review for the news blog, more later but I figure I better post it now:
| Quote |
| Review: Lord of the Rings - Return of the King. I just got back from the first showing here of LOTR - ROTK, the third installment of the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. Straight up, it is a beautiful and fitting end to this series of movies. Peter Jackson has managed to pull off what I had said could never be done, that is, a movie version of the entire Lord of the Rings, that remains faithful to the essence of Tolkien's books even though it cannot remain true to every incedent that happens in the books. No movie, not even a 16 hour mini-series could capture every detail of the books. We just have to get used to it and judge the movie strictly on its own merits and not worry too much about matching the books chapter and verse. Frankly, Jackson, has two stories to tell and each one could be a seperate movie unto itself! You have the story of Frodo, Sam and Gollum as they journey to take the ring to the Cracks of Doom and you have the story of the rest of the Fellowship as they attempt to rally and save stricken Gondor. This is a complex tale to weave and yet not loose a watcher who has not read the books. Not an easy task. But they manage to do this, and add the motivation, characterization that only good directing, editing and acting can do. There are parts of this film that are really touching, and other parts that inspire awe in their grandure. The special effects are supurb but never overwhelm the story. Jackson stays with the story and does not let the actors, special effects or other considerations get in the way of that. All of these serve the story. If you liked the first two movies you will love Return of the King. It completes the story and does it well. Go and see it, you will not be disappointed. |
Return of the King - by Runt on 07:42 18 Dec 2003
Wow... how to describe this movie... personally the best review I've read was from PVP... "The movie is so good there's really not a good place to go pee."
A review is meant to give the reader an idea of what the reviewer thought of the movie, and to give enough information to guide the reader in making their own decision based on their own likes and dislikes. So, to that end, the question is posed....
Should you take the time to see The Return of the King?
WHAT... YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET???? IT'S BEEN OUT FOR OVER 24 HOURS NOW... WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!!!!!!!!!
But I was thinking about waiting till it is in the dollar theatre, or see it when it hits video....
*SMACK* I shouldn't let you live, much less breed, for even considering that. But, as I am a gentle man not bent towards
violence who is dressed in a nice silk shirt which takes to blood stains like a crack addict to the pipe, you shall be spared.
This is a movie that must... no.. let me rephrase that... MUST be seen on the big screen with surround sound in one of those expensive theaters with the new wide seats and lots of leg room... preferably either alone or with other Tolkien worshipers who would cut out their own eyes before suffering a small child to utter even a whisper during King Théoden’s death scene.... a group of people who would riot and beat the little snot nosed brat who decides to pull out a cell phone and light up the surrounding two rows while he checks his message count.
As with the other movies, I have seen those who bemoan the drifts from the original text... like some ultra right wing religious sect who won't wear clothes made with blended fabrics for fear of the wrath of the vengeful almighty.... but some changes are allowable... even preferable. I for one was glad that they dropped the end from the movie where Frodo goes back to the Shire only to find that Saruman had taken over the shire and turned it into a giant factory.... like some anti-industrialist's nightmare. Not all change is good, and I believe for the most part Jackson kept well away from frivolous changes.
Certainly there are considerations to be made with any adaptation from book to screen. And some things about the book that, for whatever reason, just don't fit the director's plan for the script. It is a different medium... which can from time to time call for a different spin. The key to managing these changes is to minimize them at all costs.... we've all seen movies (sadly, many sci-fi/fantasy) where characters are used only for their recognition factor, and only the very base storyline is followed (*big nod goes to Battlefield Earth on this one, along with a plane of the abyss for all involved*).
Now... I am in no way saying that the Trilogy was even 99% true to the book... he, unfortunately, added parts that were quite honestly out of sorts (See "Elf Surfing", "Dwarf Tossing", "Short Jokes" and "The Amazing Breakdancing Gandalf"). There he did grind his heel against the very personalities that Tolkien set out... slipping slightly into the pitfall that so many before have been lost to (granted, the Gandalf reference was more of a visual effect faux-pas). But... these admittedly painful moments are just that.. moments... which are completely lost in the scope of the final product. They fall in the shadow of the towering grandeur which is the Trilogy as a whole... and certainly what must be considered the crown jewel... The Return of the King.
It stands, I believe, as the best of the three movies... the energetic, awe-inspiring, and stirring finale... the focused drive towards conclusion that it was meant to be. I found myself with tears in my eyes not for the all-too empathic struggles that we witnessed, but for the incredible sights that I was shown... the heights of the world... the deepest crevasse... and all the panoramic evidence that this place.. this time... this struggle really existed.
This movie is grandeur on a minute scale. Sure... watching the aerial shots of the watchtower fires being lit atop soaring mountain peeks was breathtaking, and the sheer raw force of the Oliphant attack actually made me cringe in my seat... but so to was the intricate rust and slime on the siege engines... the worn and aged edges on the gleaming Fortress of Minas Tirith... even the smallest detail felt right.. it felt real.... as if your hands could feel the grit.. the grime... the hard aged metal of the Black Gates and the smooth firm pith of the elven arrow shafts. And it wasn't simply the props... it was the presentation. The angles, the mood, the shift.. each blink and twitch of the camera's eye had a purpose.. like a single note in Handel's Messiah... like a single letter in the script of Hamlet.
But... like these other masterpieces... this too has a definite end... and we should all be thankful for that. It is complete now... the story has been captured in film.. done right the first time. And so here is my benediction...
May Hollywood never consider writing a sequel.
Amen.
Wow... how to describe this movie... personally the best review I've read was from PVP... "The movie is so good there's really not a good place to go pee."
A review is meant to give the reader an idea of what the reviewer thought of the movie, and to give enough information to guide the reader in making their own decision based on their own likes and dislikes. So, to that end, the question is posed....
Should you take the time to see The Return of the King?
WHAT... YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET???? IT'S BEEN OUT FOR OVER 24 HOURS NOW... WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!!!!!!!!!
But I was thinking about waiting till it is in the dollar theatre, or see it when it hits video....
*SMACK* I shouldn't let you live, much less breed, for even considering that. But, as I am a gentle man not bent towards
violence who is dressed in a nice silk shirt which takes to blood stains like a crack addict to the pipe, you shall be spared.
This is a movie that must... no.. let me rephrase that... MUST be seen on the big screen with surround sound in one of those expensive theaters with the new wide seats and lots of leg room... preferably either alone or with other Tolkien worshipers who would cut out their own eyes before suffering a small child to utter even a whisper during King Théoden’s death scene.... a group of people who would riot and beat the little snot nosed brat who decides to pull out a cell phone and light up the surrounding two rows while he checks his message count.
As with the other movies, I have seen those who bemoan the drifts from the original text... like some ultra right wing religious sect who won't wear clothes made with blended fabrics for fear of the wrath of the vengeful almighty.... but some changes are allowable... even preferable. I for one was glad that they dropped the end from the movie where Frodo goes back to the Shire only to find that Saruman had taken over the shire and turned it into a giant factory.... like some anti-industrialist's nightmare. Not all change is good, and I believe for the most part Jackson kept well away from frivolous changes.
Certainly there are considerations to be made with any adaptation from book to screen. And some things about the book that, for whatever reason, just don't fit the director's plan for the script. It is a different medium... which can from time to time call for a different spin. The key to managing these changes is to minimize them at all costs.... we've all seen movies (sadly, many sci-fi/fantasy) where characters are used only for their recognition factor, and only the very base storyline is followed (*big nod goes to Battlefield Earth on this one, along with a plane of the abyss for all involved*).
Now... I am in no way saying that the Trilogy was even 99% true to the book... he, unfortunately, added parts that were quite honestly out of sorts (See "Elf Surfing", "Dwarf Tossing", "Short Jokes" and "The Amazing Breakdancing Gandalf"). There he did grind his heel against the very personalities that Tolkien set out... slipping slightly into the pitfall that so many before have been lost to (granted, the Gandalf reference was more of a visual effect faux-pas). But... these admittedly painful moments are just that.. moments... which are completely lost in the scope of the final product. They fall in the shadow of the towering grandeur which is the Trilogy as a whole... and certainly what must be considered the crown jewel... The Return of the King.
It stands, I believe, as the best of the three movies... the energetic, awe-inspiring, and stirring finale... the focused drive towards conclusion that it was meant to be. I found myself with tears in my eyes not for the all-too empathic struggles that we witnessed, but for the incredible sights that I was shown... the heights of the world... the deepest crevasse... and all the panoramic evidence that this place.. this time... this struggle really existed.
This movie is grandeur on a minute scale. Sure... watching the aerial shots of the watchtower fires being lit atop soaring mountain peeks was breathtaking, and the sheer raw force of the Oliphant attack actually made me cringe in my seat... but so to was the intricate rust and slime on the siege engines... the worn and aged edges on the gleaming Fortress of Minas Tirith... even the smallest detail felt right.. it felt real.... as if your hands could feel the grit.. the grime... the hard aged metal of the Black Gates and the smooth firm pith of the elven arrow shafts. And it wasn't simply the props... it was the presentation. The angles, the mood, the shift.. each blink and twitch of the camera's eye had a purpose.. like a single note in Handel's Messiah... like a single letter in the script of Hamlet.
But... like these other masterpieces... this too has a definite end... and we should all be thankful for that. It is complete now... the story has been captured in film.. done right the first time. And so here is my benediction...
May Hollywood never consider writing a sequel.
Amen.
Return of the King - by Brad on 10:00 18 Dec 2003
*clapping hands* Runt that was brilliantly written.
*clapping hands* Runt that was brilliantly written.
Return of the King - by holsfisher on 19:08 18 Dec 2003
Lol, I heartily agree with all thats been said here!!!
I was pleased with the ending, especially. It would have been really easy for the Aragorn-is-king scene to have descended into toal cheese, but it was avoided.
And the time just dissappeared, I couldnt beleive over three hours had passed when it got to the end.
One other thing. I hate spiders, they make me feel..........itchy.
Lol, I heartily agree with all thats been said here!!!
I was pleased with the ending, especially. It would have been really easy for the Aragorn-is-king scene to have descended into toal cheese, but it was avoided.
And the time just dissappeared, I couldnt beleive over three hours had passed when it got to the end.
One other thing. I hate spiders, they make me feel..........itchy.
Return of the King - by anyagreenleaf on 09:16 20 Dec 2003
im going 2 c the return of the king in an hour!
im going 2 c the return of the king in an hour!
Return of the King - by Brad on 10:46 20 Dec 2003
Hey anyagreenleaf, welcome to the forums. I hope you really enjoy RotK!
Some favorite images for me were the charge of the Roharim outside of Minas Tirith and Eowin's fight with the Lord of the Nazgul.
Hey anyagreenleaf, welcome to the forums. I hope you really enjoy RotK!
Some favorite images for me were the charge of the Roharim outside of Minas Tirith and Eowin's fight with the Lord of the Nazgul.
Return of the King - by Arislyn on 11:11 20 Dec 2003
*grins* Those were some great scenes. In fact, I'm trying to find a figure of the Witch King for Runt. (He knows I'm looking, so I'm not giving anything away here.) I'm not sure that any were made, though. That would surprise me if it wasn't made into a figure. The Witch King had to be one of the most impressive sights in the movie.
Oh! Oh! Maybe there's one of Shelob out there...*goes to hunt*
Welcome to the forums, Anya. Make yourself at home and enjoy your stay!
*grins* Those were some great scenes. In fact, I'm trying to find a figure of the Witch King for Runt. (He knows I'm looking, so I'm not giving anything away here.) I'm not sure that any were made, though. That would surprise me if it wasn't made into a figure. The Witch King had to be one of the most impressive sights in the movie.
Oh! Oh! Maybe there's one of Shelob out there...*goes to hunt*
Welcome to the forums, Anya. Make yourself at home and enjoy your stay!
Return of the King - by Kainja on 19:45 22 Dec 2003
*Peeks in sheepishly with a "I haven't seen it yet" look on his face.*
"I bet it's good though. Real good.
*Peeks in sheepishly with a "I haven't seen it yet" look on his face.*
"I bet it's good though. Real good.
Return of the King - by Idril on 06:42 28 Dec 2003
it was excellent!
i saw all parts of the trilogy at the same day, it was a great experience
it was excellent!
i saw all parts of the trilogy at the same day, it was a great experience
Return of the King - by Arislyn on 21:38 28 Dec 2003
Welcome to the forums, Idril!
Yeah, I have yet to talk to anyone who didn't think that the entire series was fabulous. There have been a few purists who have grumbled a little about the fact that Jackson didn't stick strictly to the books, but their complaints have been small.
Welcome to the forums, Idril!
Yeah, I have yet to talk to anyone who didn't think that the entire series was fabulous. There have been a few purists who have grumbled a little about the fact that Jackson didn't stick strictly to the books, but their complaints have been small.