The Lord Of The Rings - The Return Of The King Reviews

Easily, the best film of the last 10 years!

Without question, this is Peter Jacksons penultimate triumph in film-making! No matter what film he makes in the future, everything else will compared to this. From the opening scenes, to the final closing moments as we see Bilbo, Frodo and Co. sail west with the elves, you are completely drawn in, and believe that elves and wizards and orcs et al, are as near to real as they can be!

This film will be the new generations Star Wars! The characters are well formed and true to the book, with a few noteworthy deletions left out of the film due to time constraints, the scenery and cinematography is unparallelled to this reviewer. Of course the breakaway shining star of this movie and the 2nd instalment is easily Gollum. A first in film-making history, a CGI character that you forget is CGI.

Short of continuously rambling on and singing it’s praises, I suggest you watch this movie with the same open mouthed awe and wonder as I did.

Fantastic

The best set of movies ever, please do yourselves a favour and search for the extended editions in the database and then rent them, The extended edition of the return of the king contains several extra scenes that should not be missed. It becomes a little bit more disjointed that the original theatrical verion but definately required viewing if you loved the original like me.

Every inch the finale this saga deserves, cementing its place as one of the seminal cinematic achievements of our time

THE RETURN OF THE KING, the third and final film in Peter Jackson's THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, finds Middle-earth on the cusp of great change. Weary hobbits Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) venture further into the dark realm of Mordor, guided by the increasingly desperate Gollum (Andy Serkis), the two-faced former owner of the Ring that Frodo must destroy in the fires of Mount Doom. Meanwhile Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) contend with the deranged ruler Denethor (John Noble) at the once-mighty city of Minas Tirith, as Merry (Dominic Monaghan) joins ?owyn (Miranda Otto) and the Riders of Rohan to hold back the forces of Sauron. Amidst the chaos, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) must rise to his destiny, aided by Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) in assembling allies for a massive battle that will decide the fate of Middle-earth.

With RETURN, Jackson brings J.R.R. Tolkien's world-renowned tale to a stunning conclusion. As with THE TWO TOWERS, the director deftly weaves various storylines together in one remarkable scene after another. Spectacular visuals complement Jackson's sharp focus on the characters and their emotional battles. While the special effects help to create huge battles and frightening creatures on a previously unseen scale, they never outshine the excellent ensemble of actors who bring the heart of the story home. A truly astounding work of filmmaking, THE RETURN OF THE KING skillfully concludes one of the greatest trilogies in cinema history.

Why Can't People Give Credit where Credit is Obviously Due? (to Peter Jackson and the entire cast)

Mr. Carmichael's earlier review giving all the LOTR movies a slating is very descriptive and informative but quite frankly, a load of twaddle. I'm sure we could all pick at movies that were made from books and find changes and parts/characters that have been left out etc. but so what? Can't you Tolkien 'experts' lay of with the obsessive compulsive behaviour and just admit that the LOTR movies are fantastic even though they did't stay completely true to the book? Wasn't it Peter Jackson's privilage to make the movies as he saw fit? And fit they are! Return of the King was fantastic and worth the wait. The atmosphere in the cinema was electric when it screened where I live. The whole audience gave it a round of applause at the start and the end of the movie and my only gripe was that they trilogy was now over! I'm sure the movies have inspired many to pick up a book for the first time in their lives - and others to re-read LOTR again. My Uncle who was dying of cancer loved the 1st LOTR movie so much he talked about it often and said he couldn't wait to see the next one. Sadly he passed away before The Two Towers release but I know he would have loved them both, as I did. A movie that is able to give pleasure to a dying man is priceless. If you have not seen the LOTR movies, (why not???!!) please rent them, chill out and let yourself go in a world of magic, elves, hobbits, wizards, evil power and a gold ring that is decidedly precioussss...

CAN ANYONE ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS

a) Where the hell was Christopher Lee?

b) Why was Sauron just a glorified evil lighthouse + why did Gandalf's magical contribution primarily consist of shining a large torch?

c) Why did the Ringwraith and it's winged buddy have the fighting ability of a watery jelly?

d) Why did the gigantic elephant thing have a paper thin skull that could be penetrated by a single arrow?

e) Why didn't they ask the ghosts to fight the whole war before allowing them to shoot off to their nether regions?

f) Why didn't Liv Tyler get her kit off?

g) Can you blame those those dudes for charging off into certain death with that hobbit singing that poncey song?

h) Why did the ending go on until the people in the cinema turned cobwebbed skeletons?

P.S. It was wicked nonetheless which is why I have given it 4 stars.

Don't bother with this one, the bonus disks for the previous films had all the good stuff in!

Return of the King is Jacksons Crowning Glory

As with all of Jackson's efforts at screening LOTR it would be easy to focus on omissions or weaknesses. Sure I missed Sharky's return and the Scouring of the Shire. Sure the Grey Havens scene was belaboured and sickly. However to criticise the film on this basis is to throw the hobbit out with the bathwater.

Where the film triumphs is it's reflection of the fear, despair and hopelesness of the key characters prior to victory. Aragorns reluctance to enter the Halls of the Dead (which Jackson brilliantly elaborates upon beyond the scale of the book). Faramir's lost cause and Denethors madness. Frodo and Sam's epic struggle, where Jackson carefully highlights Sam's critical role in the ultimate quest to destroy the ring.

The battle of the Pelennor Fields had me gripped from start to finish. As for realism - try and depict a battle involving a 25 metre elephant cavalry, 100 thousand assorted humans orcs and goblins, a few hundred cave trolls, (and the odd winged ringwraith) around a terraced fortified mountain with true realism. The heroic charge of the Rohirrim under the feet of the Oliphaunts ranks as one of the best moments of the whole trilogy, and the battle included excellent cameos involving Eowyn's battle with the ringwraith and Legolas' general superheroism.

Nope. Flaws aside Jackson did good. If you liked the first two, the book, or fantasy in general then you've seen it already. If you don't then it may not be your cup of tea. Bring on The Hobbit, Peter - need any spare goblins?

[Highly rated reviewer]

IMPORTANT ARGUMENTS SOLVED

Excellent, obviously.

Firstly, I don't mind the fact that Jackson left out the return to hobbiton. The silly little peoples feuds were always an anticlimax anyway. I don't understand why the snapping of the saraman's staff was omitted, but maybe because this was left out, Jackson thought we might have forgotten about the dark wizard by the end and not mind the omission of him travelling to hobbiton. What Jackson should have really left out was the ten minutes of crying bloody hobbits. Jesus.

Christmas will never be the same again. For three years i've had a warm glow knowing i've something huge to look forward too at christmas.

I am sad that i'll never be able to watch it for the first time again, how i envy any of you who have not seen yet this trilogy.

Amazing Stuff!!!

An unbeleiveable end to a great trilogy. Superb music, stunning visual effects and a great cast makes this one of the best films ever made. I was gripped throught the whole thing. A True Masterpiece

Great film - too many endings

An excellent film and a good ending up to the first one at least. You could turn it off after 2 1/2 hours and not miss anything. The action sequencies make up for the slow and boring bits with Frodo and Sam. Kinda wish they'd been topped off in the first film.