Lord Of The Rings - Return Of The King

What's the Plot?

The victory at Helm's Deep is short-lived. Mankind's defeat over Sauron's forces there has only pushed the evil to finally rid Middle-Earth of mankind, elves and dwarves once-and-for-all and to gain back what once belonged to it: the one ring that will rule them all. The ring is still being borne by the hobbit, Frodo (Elijah Wood), who, on his journey to Mount Doom, where he must cast the ring in to destroy it, is accompanied by his trusted friend, Sam (Sean Astin) and Smeagol/Gollum (Andy Serkis). As each step draws Frodo closer to losing his allegiance and his humanity, the original ring-bearer - Gollum - continues to try and turn him away from Sam so that he may get back his "precious." Meanwhile, Gandalf (Ian McKellen) has learned that Sauron intends to send his forces to the city of Minas Tirith in a final siege. However, without a king, mankind is seemingly doomed, that is unless Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) , takes his rightful place and fulfills his destiny and unites all against the forces of evil. With Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) the dwarf and Legolas (Orlando Bloom), an elf, by his side as always, they and Gandalf must fight Sauron and distract him enough so that Frodo and Sam may have a chance to pass through Mordor undetected and reach Mount Doom and end what the Fellowship originally began.

The Review

You name it. Peter Jackson's interpretation of Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings trilogy has broken it. From filming the 3 movies back-to-back, to smashing box-office records world-wide, through to breaking the laws of diminishing returns, each film has surpassed the previous installment. For once, the phrase "saving the best to last" is correct. If the battle scene from The Two Towers took your breath away, Return Of The King's 3 major fight sequences will leave you groping for an oxygen tank. The good vs.evil showdown outside Minas Tirith brings to the screen an organic, pumped-up version of The Empire Strikes Back's ice planet battle, with over-sized elephants replacing AT-AT's whilst our heroes fight amongst their legs with Jackson's camera sweeping and swooping through the carnage, picking up intimate struggles in the immense brawl.

Legolas even gets to do a "Fred Flintstone slide" down a beast's trunk, and still looks cool as ever doing it! But, as spectacular as they are - and believe me, they are! - the LOTR's movies have also been about the friendships, personal struggles and sacrifices made as well. Again, as in The Two Towers, the main characters are expected to be in the audience's minds, therefore re-introductions are ignored, leaving the way clear for more in-depth characterisation. The only back-tracking done is to Gollum/Smeagol, who's origins are explored in a pre-title sequence that sets the tone for the rest of the film.

This is much darker than the previous outings. Violence, be it from or to Gollum is eye-wincingly real (a testament to the wonderful CGI'd character and Serkis' performance ) and the spider, Shelob, is a true arachnophobe's nightmare, bringing the phrase "it's behind you!" to a new level. It's 3 hours 21 minutes simply fly by, leaving you with a rare but wonderful feeling that doesn't often happen in film: wishing that it could have gone on for another 1/2 hour. A masterpiece for our time. So, what will we do now for Xmas 2004, eh my precious? Watch the extended DVD's!

Read My

Special Trilogy Review

STEVE'S SCORE