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Lord of the Rings: Return of the King |
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Written by Administrator
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Sunday, 11 September 2005 07:56 |
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The final chapter of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy has finally
come to pass and it doesn't disappoint. I didn't get around
to reading Tolkien's books until after the "Fellowship of the
Ring" came to theaters. I was so impressed by the first film
that I knew I had to read the books. I went through all of
them and loved every minute. I tell you this so you know
that I haven't been a devout Tolkien fan all my life but love the
stories now. The first two films were superb in my opinion
although some parts did diverge from the original story.
"Return of the King" is by far the best of the films in the
trilogy. There are many parts that I wish had been included
but I felt that overall Peter Jackson did a great job with the
cuts.
The final chapter of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy has finally
come to pass and it doesn't disappoint. I didn't get around
to reading Tolkien's books until after the "Fellowship of the
Ring" came to theaters. I was so impressed by the first film
that I knew I had to read the books. I went through all of
them and loved every minute. I tell you this so you know
that I haven't been a devout Tolkien fan all my life but love the
stories now. The first two films were superb in my opinion
although some parts did diverge from the original story.
"Return of the King" is by far the best of the films in the
trilogy. There are many parts that I wish had been included
but I felt that overall Peter Jackson did a great job with the
cuts.
BEWARE, THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD.
So many movies have failed to keep the
viewers caring for the characters in the sequels. This is
where ROTK stays on top. Peter Jackson has brilliantly
balanced continuing the story while at the same time making sure
we still care what happens to the characters. You may say
that Peter Jackson had nothing to do with this as Tolkien wrote
the story. This in part is true but Peter Jackson takes some
divergences from the book to ensure that we continue to care.
Although in one sense I would love to see the movie stick strictly
to the book I think the changes made were important and made the
movies far better in the end.
So what big changes were made you ask?
There were a few that bothered me that I suspect will be fixed in
the extended edition. The first change was that Aragorn
never confronts Sauron through the palantir. This will most
likely be in the extended version as it is only a small part that
takes almost no time(which raises the question why wasn't it in
the film?). Another is that the palantir is found sitting in
the water at the base of Saruman's tower. The confrontation
with Saruman never occurs. This will be in the extended
edition according to Peter Jackson. The final major issue
was that Gollum set Sam and Frodo against one another. In
the book this didn't occur, or at least not nearly as directly.
Overall the movie was incredible and
keeps you on the edge of your seat. You feel happy, sad,
scared, and anxious throughout the movie giving you more emotion
than any movie that I can recall(short of the previous two LOTR
movies). The special effects are extraordinary. You
can't even tell Gollum is animated in the film. The battle
scenes are so believable that you really think people are being
crushed by elephants. The acting is perfect with each actor
convincing you that they are the character they are playing.
Ian McKellen did an incredible job of playing the immensely
powerful Gandalf. In this movie you really get to see
Gandalf's power as he repels the Nazgul, which was absolutely
wild. Of course I can't forget the music. It is hard to believe
that the music can really make the movie but it does. The
emotion you are supposed to be feeling is relayed through the
music perfectly. I have to say that although I am a "Matrix"
freak this has become my favorite movie and the trilogy my
favorite group of movies.
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