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UK SciFi / Horror and Fantasy |  |
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The Lord Of the Rings: The Return of the King [2003] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
As before, in this concluding part of the trilogy the spectacle never dwarfs (sic) the characters, even during Shelob the spider's pitiless assault, for example, or the unparalleled Battle of the Pelennor Fields, where the white towers of Minas Tirith come under ferocious attack from Troll-powered siege weapons and--in a sequence reminiscent of the Imperial Walkers in The Empire Strikes Back--Mammoth-like Mumakil. The people and their feelings always remain in focus, as emphasised by Jackson's sensitive small touches: Gandalf reassuring a terrified Pippin in the midst of battle that death is not to be feared; Frodo's blazing anger at Sam's apparent betrayal; Faramir's desire to win the approval of his megalomaniac father; Gollum's tragic cupidity and his final, heartbreaking glee. And at the very epicentre of the film is the pure heart of Samwise Gamgee--the real hero of the story. At over three hours, there are almost inevitably some lulls, and the film still feels as if some key scenes are missing: a problem doubtless to be rectified in the extended DVD edition. But the end, when it does finally arrive--set to Howard Shore's Wagnerian music score--brings us full circle, leaving the departing audience to wonder if they will ever find within themselves even a fraction of the courage of a hobbit. --Mark Walker ReviewsOver-rated but still astonishingly good Review date: 2008-08-14 Rating: 8 out of 10 So this is it. Yet another cinematic trilogy draws to a close. Great things comes in threes : the Star Wars Trilogy. The Omen Trilogy. Indiana Jones. The Omen. The Godfather. The Matrix (er, maybe I should rethink this particular theory). And now this. The final four hours of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. But this isn't a trilogy, nor is it just a remake or a continuation (it's not The Lord Of The Rings 3-d : The Revenge, for example), simply the third and final part of the story. And my god, it's long. Two hundred and ten bum-numbing minutes. That's three times as long as Toy Story. There's not even an intermission : just a constant, endless trawl of dialogue, CGI, and stuff. Endless long panning shots - Look At This! It's Big! It's Slow! It's got.... Ominous music! But overall, it just makes more than my butt feel numb. By the time I get to the 178th minute, (or, including the Extended Editions, the 624th Minute), I just don't care. There's a thin one and a fat one on a quest to throw a ring into a fire. There's two stunted sidekicks providing comic relief and bumbling through whatever's going on. There's the bad guy from Ghostbusters in a wig who kills some stuff. There's Ian McKellen doing his very best impersonation of Alec Guiness, talking mystic mumbo-jumbo, returning from the dead, and generally being a bit of a grand ole wizard. And there's Count Dooku The Wickerman whose mysteriously absent from this despite being in the first two movies. Forgive me for being jaded.... But like, so what? I really find it hard to care now. It's almost predictable. Before seeing this I could've told you for example, at leats some of what happens. A big show off between a huge army and an even huger army where the not quite so big army, and therefore the Good Guys, manage to win somehow. This time, by throwing a ring into a fire and all the baddies just dropping dead. Which is very Episode 1:The Phantom Menace is it not? And here we are then. There's the never-explained Eye of Sauraman. And Sauaraman is like, the big bad guy who, despite not owning the Ring, is somehow powered by the ring and managing to channel all his powers into finding it. And despite being a really huge eye, it can't see a thing. It just sweeps the horizon from a very Big Tower like a Gestapo searchlight. But Suaraman is never actually seen. Let alone explained : What is he? How is he? Who is he? And why does he need the ring so much? How come he can operate without it, yet when it melts he loses all his power? He is some kind of psychic ring vampire? Oh my. What a load of inconsistent rubbish. Rule 1 : if you are going to invent your own fantasy world at the very least make it consistent. Make it make sense. Make it seem real. So yes, there's the laugh-inducing scene that sees Gollum (again, wonderfully played by Andy Serkis who stands head and shoulders above the rest of the cast bar the fabulous McKellen, and the-sadly-absent-in-this-episode Christopher Lee) fighting an invisible enemy. So one just sees a bit of CGI jumping around punching a transparent bit of scenery. Which had at least half of the audience at my particular screening snorting with derisive laughter. It's not quite as good as that. There's also the long, protracted, twenty or thirty minutes after the film ends that extrapolate the fate of every character you've met so far : every son, daughter, long lost third cousin, that the viewer probably doesn't care about, and frankly, spoils the emotional closure of the film. After a touching but unexplained "Sailing into the sunset" scene (which, being the SIXTH post-conclusion epilogue was trying our patience) there's still more. This time with the Fat One from The Goonies mucking about in his stupid, calloused Hobbit Feet with his Wife and Hobbit Spawn. Urgh. I haven't even mentioned the sudden, unexplained, and mystifying Eagles that soar from the sky and magically save the day. Or the fact that Hobbits seem to be made of Asbestos and hence don't burst into flame when surrounded by molten lava. Or the Army of Undead Cursed Zombie Pirates that suddenly turn up chanting Mighty Mouses' infamous refrain HERE I COME TO SAVE THE DAY! (Ok, maybe not, but it certainly seems like). Overall, The Return of The King isn't bad. It's an admirable, faithful adaptation of grandiose, deeply flawed book, and makes a spectacularly good job of it. But it thinks it's Great, and it isn't. It's merely very good, as long as you don't try to make sense of it, or its cod-catholic psuedo-intellectual treatise on the Nature Of Evil and like, stuff. It's not as good as it thinks it is, which makes it not as good as it could've been. Leave your brain at the door and you might think it's a fitting end to the most ambitious and greatest Cinematic Trilogy ever made. But then again, they haven't made Ghostbusters 3 : Rise of The Zombies yet, have they? The Greatest Romance since Love Story ? Review date: 2008-06-28 Rating: 10 out of 10 I take no notice of the ridiculous negative reviews from people simply trying to bring some kind of attention from themselves and having just watched these 3 films back-to-back since they appeared on the big screen I enjoyed them just the same in the comfort of my own home. Superb acting,screenplay,direction,production - everything.Undoubtedly,Elijah Wood showed his true colours with his unrequited love interest Sean Astin which must surely go down as the greatest romance in cinema history since Ali McGraw died on Ryan O'Neal all those years ago. Stunning Finale Review date: 2008-06-17 Rating: 10 out of 10 The stunning finale to the Lord of the Rings trilogy is simply mesmerizing. It simply awed me being transported into Middle earth in such a way. . We can fully experience the danger and pathos experienced by Frodo (Elijah Woods) and Samwise (Sean Astin) as they travel through the depths of Mordor, needing to survive Orcs, the giant spider Shelob, and the scummy Gollum (Andy Serkis). The movie actually begins with tracing the story of Gollum, the foul murder he commits to achieve the wring, and how he becomes the creepy wraith that lives underground. The movie also explores in depth, the torment of Arwen (Liv Tyler) and her decision to surrender her immortality for her love for Aragorn, who despite being the heir to the throne of the Dunedain, and the messiah of mankind (of sorts) on Middle Earth is a man nonetheless. This is portrayed in conversations with her father, the great elf lord, Elrond, and her visions. The Battle of Pellenor Fields and the siege of Gondor, where Gandalf (Ian McLellan) takes charge of the troops, Aragorns feat in recruiting the dead men of Dunharrow, and the charge of the Rohirrim, give us a feel for the heroism of the West, fighting for all that is good against the dark forces of Mordor (Orcs, Trolls and evil men , as well as yet other darker more powerful creatures such as the Nazgul and their terrible flying steeds). It is indeed vital today, to give us the fighting strength, to defend our Western Judeo-Christian civilization, against the forces of Communism and Islamic Fundamentalism, and it rung a cord with me, the chilling parallel, as the forces of darkness moved forward , against a fearful and resolute West in Middle Earth. Granting us the straight perhaps, for our own fight for good. No room for moral relativism of Middle Earth. Saruman tried that, aided by the Noam Chomsky-like Wormtongue and was destroyed. rubbish Review date: 2008-06-07 Rating: 2 out of 10 awful conculsion to the trilogy that is overlong,boring,badly acted,and takes a good hour to end.the sooner peter jackson go's back to makin gorefests like braindead the better Product Details/SpecificationsActor(s): Ian Holm Bernard Hill Sean Bean John Rhys-Davies Sean Astin Creators: Sean Astin (Primary Contributor) Sean Bean (Primary Contributor) Andrew Lesnie (Cinematographer) Howard Shore (Composer) Recording label: New Line Home Video Manufacturer: New Line Home Video EAN: 9780780646506 Binding: DVD ISBN: 0780646509 Number of items: 2 Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Colour, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC, Release date: 2004-05-25 Universal product code (UPC): 794043692925 Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 Region code: 1 Running time: 200 minutes Theatrical release date: 2003-12-17 Language: English (Original Language) Language: English (Subtitled) Language: Spanish (Subtitled) Language: Spanish (Dubbed)
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