User Reviews
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| LOTR |  5.0
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by  Kafani
from The Yay, CA, | May 18, 2005 |
Wow. The Return of the King brings The Lord of the Rings saga to a masterful close. What began relatively quietly four years ago ends with a huge bang, with millions of people across the world waiting with baited breath. This saga has redefined epic storytelling, by adroitly combining stunning special effects with a larger-than-life story and colorful characters. It feels grand yet intimate at the same time. These three films have also cemented catapulted the statuses of director Peter Jackson and actor Orlando Bloom, both of whom were relatively unknown before these films. The Return of the King is a good film on its own and as the final chapter of the trilogy, and Jackson is the person behind it all.
From his past experience, it seemed pretty far-fetched that he had the skill to tackle J.R.R. Tolkien's novels. Looking back, it was his vision and drive that pulled everything together. Along with Frances Walsh and Philippa Boyens, he adapted the three novels and went off to his home country of New Zealand to scout exotic locations. Jackson clearly loved the material, and his devotion shows in the final product. Yes, he made some minor changes to the story, but everything was done to make it fit for the film genre, and unlike many other films, Jackson cared that the changes he made would still make sense.
Astin is the biggest surprise of the film. As Sam, he was primarily relegated to sidekick status in the two previous films. Here, he rises to the occasion by serving as the emotional core of the story. Sam is trying to protect Frodo from the Ring and Gollum, and trying to push them forward at the same time. Astin is the character that people can most relate to, and by giving him a spotlight, Jackson makes the world of Middle Earth seem somewhat closer to this one. Again, Jackson brings this world to vivid life. The best example is when the city of Minas Tirith lights a series of signal fires. When a far-off outpost sees a fire, they light their own, causing another outpost even further away to light their fire, all the way to Rohan. The camera smoothly sweeps over the mountains, giving the illusion of an incredible distance. Rohan and Minas Tirith exist on large grassy plains, while Mordor is a bleak, rocky wasteland.
There are small elements that do not work. The love story between Arwen is one of the things that Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens added, and never feels 'real.' It does give some depth to the Aragorn character, but at times is more of a diversion than anything else. Moreover, the world of Middle Earth is so rich in history and politics and the roles of each member of the fellowship are so complex that sometimes, unless one has read the book, characters are spouting off names, places, and tasks that are unclear. To his credit, Jackson does make things clear, and these are small faults hidden by pretty much everything else. As The Return of the King comes to a close, it ends. Then it ends again, then again. It may feel like the endings drag on for a while, but there are many things that need to come to a close. Jackson is not only finishing this movie, he is finishing the entire saga, and he deserves to take his time in saying his goodbyes. He does so with class and emotion, and it is a fitting ending.
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| Beautiful Movie | 5.0
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by  DragoniteBallZ
| Oct 1, 2004 |
The Lord of the Rings is a series of three movies that takes place in Middle Earth setting. In Return of the King, Frodo and Sam are heading to their final destination to destroy the Ring which is the source of malignant power.
The presentation is spectacular. The setting and battles that take place intense are powerful as well as exciting. As well as the Celtic soundtrack and backgrounds.
The story is powerful too. You would probably get a better understanding of the story from the books, but the movie presents the story just as well and put much of it into the 3+ hours based on each book. The story is a put in parable like persepective of courage, hope, unity and power. Ending harmonically with peace once again sweeping across the land. it's powerful and very moving.
In total, the whole Lord of the Rings Series is over 10 hours long! The series ends with it worth every minute of it. There are few movies or movie series out there you can really call great. This is one of those sets of movies. The story of The Lord of the Rings is one people will be talked about for generations. Whether it's reading the books or watching the movie, The Lord of The Rings is a spectacular work of art in every way. |
| 5 out of 9 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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| this is one of the best |  4.9
0 comments |
by  Miss Witching Hour
from , , England | Aug 24, 2004 |
THE GOOD:
*~a great inturputation of tolkiens great novel.
*~beautifully done
THE BAD:
cant think of a thing bad about this film SUMMARY:
we all new that the lord of the ring trilogy would be hard to make, and peter jackson has done it wonderfully.
this is the last part to frodos journey to destroy the ring, which at this time he doesnt actually want to do for he has grown extreamily close to the ring which gollum sees and plays with.
Elijah Woods plays frodo baggins incredibly well in this film since frodo is becoming corrupt.
All the characters keep up their great acting abilities throughout the films, and there is more of the game that legolas and gimli play to see who kills the most, therefore still lots of funny parts.
Arogorn reclaims his throne and calls upon the ghosts of traitors of ilsildor, to help him win the battle, which is amazing to watch.
The film is brilliant and since its based upon such a complex book, i dont think it could be improved at all. |
| 2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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| Return of the King | 5.0
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by  Luigi88
from New York, , U.S.A | Aug 22, 2004 |
THE GOOD:
Everything in the movie was good and let me summarize this a bit, the good:
The charicters- every character played a role in this movie and each character had something unique about them.
The music- the music was amazing. At times, it shocked you and at times, it made you cry. The music really played a huge role in this movie and I thought the music is what made the movie as good as it was.
The battle scenes- I mean, this is what everyone liked about the movie. The fighting was amazing and everyone was in it. When you watched the fighting scenes you felt like you wanted to fight and I found this very exciting and entertaining.
THE BAD:
The ending. The ending wasn't as good as it could have been. Since this is the last Lord of the Rings movie, the ending could have been a bit better and it wasn't. SUMMARY:
Best movie out of the trilogy and it is one of the greatest movies I have seen to this date. If you haven't seen it yet, go and see it. It's worthwhile and I'm telling you, it's one of the greatest movies ever witnessed on Earth. |
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| The king of 2003 |  4.0
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by  DarkLink
from , BC, Canada | May 3, 2004 |
THE GOOD:
CGI effects
Epic battle scenes, the Battle of the pelennor Fields was amazingTHE BAD:
Strays a little too much from the book
The Eye of Sauron. SUMMARY:
In mid-December, the world of movies was taken by storm. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King hit theaters.
This movie was very much anticipated for over a year. It is the climax of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, based on the books by JRR Tolkien. In this movie, everything comes to an end. You can't help but feel a little disapointed, knowing there won't be another movie.
RotK will have you on the edge of your seat as you watch the armies of Mordor lay siege on Minas Tirith and Sam bravely fighting the giant spider Shelob.
The thing that annoyed me the most was the Eye of Sauron. It was like a lighthouse, looking this way and that, with a red glare going wherever it looked.
Overall, very good movie. But not the best of the LotR trilogy. |
| 3 out of 5 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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| The Climax of a legend | 5.0
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by  exsoldierCloudStrife
from , , Germany | May 1, 2004 |
THE GOOD:
The charicters
The music
The outfits
the battle scens
the actors
everythingTHE BAD:
nothing really this movie was the best of three and really nothing bad was in it SUMMARY:
Well I'm the first to give this movie a review, so this is a little special. This movie is the climax of the trilogy and has the best of everything, from the battles and plot twists. This is no doubt my favoret movie, it is synonamous with fantasy. The only think that I don't get is how many people don't like this, yes they are long, and the time totals to 9 and a half hours, but it's all worth it. I would recomend this movie and the trillogy to anyone and everyone. |
| 1 out of 3 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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forums
4.82/5.0