The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King

Well, it finally had to come to an end, and what an end! The third segment of the famous novel, adapted by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson, is the best of the three films, and closes the story in majestic fashion. Return Of The King (ROTK) is a stupendous film, easily the best film of 2003, and one of the very best of all time. The film is spot on. It is hard to imagine a better retelling.

The two previous films have drawn the characters and the setting in fine detail, and the character arcs have been set in place, with only their resolution needed. The separate story-threads of The Two Towers (TTT) eventually converge at the massive battle of Pelennor Fields, where the doom of all the peoples of the West is to be defeated by Sauron’s amassed armies. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam are still labouring toward Mordor, with the help of their guide, Gollum. The outcome is most likely well known to all readers, the book being the most loved novel of all time, but given our spoiler policy, I won’t tell it here.

Peter Jackson always said he preferred the third film, for the emotion it contained, and I couldn’t agree more. The heart of Samwise The Brave is the heart of this film – his love for Frodo, his Gaffer, and The Shire is the main reason this film succeeds as it does. Astin does a remarkable job in this portrayal, and his snubbing by the Academy only shows them for the fools they are. Were Astin less skilled, or Jackson less sensitive to the emotional development of the characters, the film would be but a shadow of what was achieved here.

The score is spectacular, Howard Shore continuing his amazing work of Fellowship Of The Ring (FOTR) and TTT, and completing his thematic development with a flourish. The variation to “Concerning Hobbits’ from FOTR which is then played on the hobbits’ return to The Shire END SPOILERS is able to convey the change that has been forced on them all, Frodo in particular. The insertion of melodies from the final ending at a point of major Sam heroism also impressed me.

The effects are marvellous – the lighting of the beacons of Gondor and Rohan is the obvious highlight. The battle scenes are spectacular in scope, although none of the battles in this film can match the fight at Parth Galen at the end of FOTR for emotional impact. Costumes, Make-up and cinematography all are superb; at no time does Middle Earth feel anything less than true, nor ROTK history.

The only major downside is that some of the characters are less well developed – Legolas, Gimli and Merry all miss out. Arwen is also only minimally involved, one of Jackson’s better directorial choices. Pippin, on the other hand, who was previously reduced to comic relief, is allowed to grow and shine. Faramir gets some needed screen time and heroics, although his scenes in the Houses of Healing are strangely absent. The deviations from the book, although frustrating for a purist, should not really affect the review of the film. It stands alone as a great film, even if I and many others would have loved certain sections of Tolkien’s plot to have been left unaltered. Perhaps the extended edition will redress this problem, as it did in TTT.

Jackson has crafted an exceptional film, one that should be seen by those of all ages. The Lord Of The Rings trilogy has been a cultural milestone, and its effect on film-making into the future can only be guessed at. Its place in history, however, is assured.