The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Review by Chris Tsui

August 6, 2004

The Movie

Back in 1995, a man named Peter Jackson started a movie project adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien's classic The Lord of the Rings book trilogy. By 2001 he had finished the first of the three, The Fellowship of the Ring, and it was a huge success. The next year's The Two Towers even raked in more money for Mr. Jackson. Finally, the last film of the trilogy, The Return of the KIng, released Christmas 2003, was the most successful of them all. Besides being the most financially successful of the three, the film went on to garner 11 Academy Award nominations, and won every single of them, being the first film to get 11 awards since 1997's Titanic, and the first to win all of its nominated categories since 1987's The Last Emperor (which won 9 Oscars).

In my opinion, the first two were all very good, but what is extremely good is King. I am not afraid to say that my all-time favourite movie is this epic film. I had high expectations for it before watching it theatrically, and I was not disappointed. The acting is the best of the series, possibly because all of the actors have been familiar with their roles and become the character itself. Elijah Wood is Frodo. Sean Astin is Sam. Ian McKellen is Gandalf. Viggo Mortensen is Aragorn. And Gollum does not disappoint since the last installment; his performance is equally believable as the live-action characters, although he is a CGI character. He's without doubt the best CG character I've ever seen.

Speaking of CGI, you can never complain about King's virtually flawless special effects. The Battle of Pelennor Fields is one of the best war scenes in movie history. You thought the Battle of Helm's Deep was very good? Wait 'til you see this.

On the other hand, the film handles its multiple storylines very well. You don't feel confused when seeing Frodo, Sam and Gollum at one time and Gandalf fighting at another time. And what's more, King is the most emotional piece of the three. The friendship between Frodo and Sam is very touching (I love it when Sam says to Frodo, "I can't carry it (the Ring) for you, but I can carry you!")

But nothing is perfect, and King has its flaws, but very minor. Its ending is quite slow, and didn't end when it should. Although some parts were very touching, I think it needs more tighter editing.

Suffice to say, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a terrific piece of work and shows how marvelous movie-making can be. It will go on to be a cherished classic.

CHRIS' EVALUATION

Magnificent, terrific, fantastic... an absolute must-watch.

The DVD

Picture: A / Audio: A- / Bonus: C

This DVD of Return of the King is a 2-disc set, with Disc 1 totally devoted to the film itself, and Disc 2 holding special features. Like the first two films, this set is sort of a 'barebones' disc, because later this year New Line will release a more elaborate DVD edition called the "Special Extended Edition", which will contain a longer version of the movie and a plethora of extras. But although this version lacks in bonus features and the extended scenes, the Extended Edition will not include the theatrical cut present in this edition and also all the bonus features on Disc 2. Those who are not too big a Rings fan or want to own the theatrical cut should buy this set.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, enhanced for 16:9 televisions; the disc is single-sided, dual-layered. King doesn't fall out of expectations, and provides another terrific transfer after the first two films.

Sharpness was consistent. I noticed no signs of softness. The transfer was also free from speckles, dirt or hairs. Edge enhancement was not present. Color was very clear and natural. From the darkness of Shelob's lair to the whiteness of Minas Tirith, the picture was spectacular.

As for the audio, the Dolby Digital 5.1 EX Surround was very good. Dialogue was crisp and clear. The special sound effects made good use of the back speakers, especially during the war scenes and when the Witch King flies across the field. Overall, this is a top-notch presentation, and I am satisfied with it. Nevertheless, I expect it to improve even more in the Special Extended Edition, as the first two films did. A 2.0 Stereo Surround is also present for those who do not have a discrete 5.1 sound system.

Traditionally, the 2-disc DVDs of The Lord of the Rings series lack in extras. So is this one. The programs and featurettes here are a bit boring and do not have depth, especially after one has watched the Special Extended Edition DVDs of the first two films. Here is a look at all of the extras on Disc 2:

When you pop in Disc 2 into your DVD player, the first extra on the menu is The Quest Fulfilled: A Director's Vision, a 23-minute-and-5-second featurette which basically tells a brief history of the Rings books, how Peter Jackson started to make the film trilogy, finding a distribution company, and start to make the films one by one, until the finish of The Return of the King . The program also talks a bit about the casting etc. Actually, I have seen this program before when it was aired on TV, and at that time I had yet to watch the Special Extended Edition DVDs, so by now I think this program is useless unless the viewer has not watched the SE DVDs or knows very little about Rings.

Next up is A Filmmaker's Journey: The Making of Return of the King, which runs 28 and a half minutes. This program is a bit similar to The Quest Fulfilled , and actually, short parts of it are directly transferred from the previous program. It contains the general production information, casting, make-up etc., but not too much stuff mainly related to King is included, so the title of this program seems misleading.

After two very similar featurettes, we finally have a different one. This National Geographic Special - "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" which runs for 45 minutes and 57 seconds, talks about how the characters in The Lord of the Rings are similar to real-life people like Queen Elizabeth I and William Wallace. Although it's aspect is different than the first two featurettes, what it shares in common with them is that it is equally useless. First, it's boring. I'm not interested in whether Aragorn is similar to William Wallace. Second, it betrays its title like the last featurette; while it says Return of the King, it talks about the characters, which is present in all three films.

After that, we have six Lordoftherings.net Featurettes, including Aragorn's Destiny, Minas Tirith: Capital of Gondor, The Battle of Pelennor Fields, Samwise the Brave, Eowyn: White Lady of Rohan and Digital Horse Doubles. They totally run for 21 minutes and 41 seconds. In the six, only Minas Tirith and Digital Horse Doubles, the featurettes related to behind-the-scenes production, are remotely interesting. The others talk about characters or scenes that are related to the story, which is a bit useless and boring.

We find two trailers for the film in Theatrical Trailers. In TV Spots there are 14 television ads, and finally there is a pretty cool The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Supertrailer, which sort of makes you feel that Fellowship, Towers and King are actually one whole film.

The Battle for Middle Earth Continues -- Video Games from EA is a 3-minute promotional preview for the Return of the King games from Electronic Arts.

Last, there is a DVD-ROM Weblink for those who have an Internet connection. You can use this feature to go to the official lordoftherings.net website and exclusive online content.

Conclusion

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a movie masterpiece. This two-disc DVD provides great picture and sound, with some basically useless features. Although the features will improve enormously in the 4-disc special edition that will come out later this year, getting this DVD is the only way you can watch the original theatrical cut.

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