Danny's Review:
• Lots of Epic Battle Sequences • Lots of Spooky, Scary Monsters Running Time: 252 Minutes (EXTENDED VERSION) Very Important: A Sense of Humor is for Maximum Enjoyment of this Review Page! If you need to understand why, Click Here! NOTE: All studio images/trailers and content is used for the purpose of publicity and No Copyright Infringement Is Intended.
    Copyright © 2003 New Line Cinema,All Rights Reserved
I went through the exact same situation leading up to the release of The Return of the King as I did for The Two Towers.....it's bizarre how similar they were. An avalanche of commercials to get me super excited about the release of The Return of the King around Thanksgiving time. Trailers, Teasers and Behind the Scenes documentaries to get me drooling for the opening. And then the best news of all: Another Special Midnight showing. So, just like the year before, I found myself surrounded by Costumed Lunatics at my local theater in Union, New Jersey. It was probably 20 degrees outside that night. And instead of being at home in a warm bed watching some Late Night Soft-Core Porno on HBO, I was at the theater to watch The Return of the King.....a midnight showing of a Three Hour, Twenty Minute Movie!  What I'm going to write is in regards to the Special Expanded Version of The Return of the King. The expanded version has almost an hour of extra film added onto the theatrical version that I saw in December 2003. There were so many story lines to deal with in The Return of the King that there wasn't enough time to deal with them all in the theatrical version. The Return of the King had to walk that Tightrope of not straying too far away from the MAIN FOCUS: Frodo and The Ring. There is a portion of The Two Towers where almost a Full Hour goes by where we don't even see Frodo or Sam at all....this was during the Helm's Deep Battle Sequence. Peter Jackson and his editors made sure to not let that happen again in The Return of the King. And this meant that other story lines had to be shorten in the theatrical version.  In the Expanded Version of The Return of the King, we see what happens to Saruman after he was attacked by The Ents in The Two Towers. His fate in The Return of the King is completely different than what happens in the book. Peter Jackson explains why this change (and other differences) took place on the Expanded DVD commentaries. If there is one knock I have on the theatrical version of The Return of the King, it's that Saruman was completely missing from the film. It had to be done because of time constraints but it was still noticeable to me. It was especially noticeable when Pippen finds the Palantír Ball in the lake around Saruman's Tower.....in the theatrical version, it was never explained how the Palantír got there in the first place. The expanded version answers that question. Again, another strong performance by Christopher Lee as Saruman. I remember hearing that Christopher Lee was really pissed off at Peter Jackson for editing out his short 7 minute scene from the theatrical movie. But Jackson did put it back into the expanded version.  When Gandalf finds out where Sauron plans to stage his final battle....he takes Pippen and goes straight for the city of Minas Tirith. Just like in The Two Towers, there is a slow buildup to the Huge Battle that's going to take place at Minas Tirith. At Minas Tirith we see Boromir's Father, Denethor, and we see him go "Looney Tunes" when he finds out what happened to his son. Even to the point where he sends his other son, Faramir, on a Pointless Suicide Mission. While Gandalf has his hands full trying to get the city prepared for battle....Frodo, Sam and Smeagol/Gollum get to Mordor. We know that Gollum has a "Special Surprise" waiting for Frodo! This surprise was supposed to happen in The Two Towers (according to the book), but instead was pushed back into The Return of the King.  Theoden and his army from Rohan are also getting ready to ride off to battle to face certain annihilation against the 100,000+ Monster Army that will be attacking Minas Tirith! Éowyn, looking just as HOT and Fiery as she did in The Two Towers, doesn't like the idea of staying behind with the rest of the women. So she decides to ride off into battle with the rest of the army....and brings little Merry along with her. Both of them want to prove their worth in battle....they want to test themselves and they don't like others telling them that they don't have what it takes to past the test. Meanwhile Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas go into the nearby mountains to recruit a secret army that will be the deciding factor in whether or not Minas Tirith survives or not. The only problem is that this "Army" is not particularly fond of Living People and Aragorn is going to have to Kick Some Zombie Ass to get them to help out.  I think that the Battle at Minas Tirith will has set a high standard for future epic battles on film. In the epic movies of the 1950's, they did plenty of Huge Battle scenes....but they couldn't go as far as they would've like to because of the cost involved. You would've needed THOUSANDS of Real People to pull off what is pulled off in The Return of the King! The cost would've been huge and it would've taken much, much longer period of time to film it all. Since the battle scenes in The Return of the King is largely Computer Generated, the cost of staging a huge battle scenes is more manageable and more time efficient. In the battle of Minas Tirith, you see: • THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of ugly creatures of every kind attack the city. • Black-Robed Ring wraiths on their Flying Dragons scoop up soldiers defending the city and drop them from hundreds' of feet in the air. • The city use enormous catapults to launch Huge Pieces of stone to crush the invading army.  • The invading army use an enormous Flaming Iron Wolfs Head as a Battering Ram. • Theoden and his horse army attack the Orc army on their Right Flank..... fantastic special effects here. • What happens when an army of Elephants arrive to reinforce the Orc Army. • What happens when Éowyn has to protect her father from being eaten like an appetizer before dinnertime....like I said in my The Two Towers review, Éowyn is so much hotter than Arwen because she doesn't mind getter her hands dirty.  • Inside the city, a showdown between Gandalf and the Powerful Witch King thats leading the Monster Army. • What happens to Denethor when he finally snaps and decides to burn himself alive. • What happens when an expected band of reinforcements shows up to help Minas Tirith. And and in the middle of all of all that is Frodo....whose having some serious problems of his own when he meet Gollum's "Special Surprise" in a dark cave. This "Special Surprise" has some really strange dinner habits! And afterwards, Frodo has to somehow get past 10,000 more Orcs before arriving at Mount Doom! NO WORRIES MATE!  After the battle of Minas Tirith is finished, the rest of The Return of the King belongs to the Frodo and the Ring storyline. In the scenes showing Frodo and Sam's climb up Mount Doom, I believe that the movie does a better job than the book. Ever since Frodo left his home in The Fellowship of the Ring, The One Ring has been chewing away at Frodo's mind to try to break his will. Finally, Sam has to pickup Frodo and carry him the rest of the way because Frodo doesn't have the strength to fight anymore.  The Emotional Storyline is pretty powerful stuff. The friendship between Frodo and Sam is very strong and Sam will not let Frodo down. It's a testament to the acting of Elijah Wood and Sean Astin that showed the strong friendship between Frodo and Sam.....without making it look Super Gay and Weird! That, to me, is the strongest part of the Entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy....the friendships between all the characters and the willingness to die to protect the other. I think it effects a lot other people also because so few of us have friendships like that....but we wish that we did.  You especially see the loyalty that Aragorn, Gandalf and all of Frodo's friends have for him when they take what's left of their little army and attack Mordor....just to give Frodo the opportunity to destroy the ring at Mount Doom. But there's another surprise waiting for Frodo and Sam at the top of Mount Doom that they're not going to like.
The ending of The Return of the King is really touching....Danny will admit that he was fighitng back a Tear or Three. I've done my share of goodbyes to people that I cared about, so Danny knows how The Hobbits felt at the end when they had to say their goodbye's.  As far as Danny is concerned....The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is the Greatest Trilogy ever put to film. Danny believes this because: • It was based on an Extremely Popular and Well-Written Book • All Three films were made Simultaneously....which meant that all the actors were completely focused on this project and nothing else. And it shows on film. If George Lucas had done the same thing, I think that the 'new' Star Wars movies would've been better. The Non-Stop Filming also benefited the director and the other principles involved....they made sure to deliver a Superior Product to the fans. • The Music was Outstanding....that's one thing that books do NOT do well: they can't put music into Danny's head!  • Many of the Fans of the book knew what would happen in the movies. When George Lucas released his new Star Wars movies in 1999, no one knew what to expect. So the fans went crazy trying to predict what The Phantom Menace would be about....and when Lucas didn't deliver the movie that was identical to the fans "Predictions", they were disappointed. That didn't happen with The Lord of the Rings Trilogy....if you were new to the story, you always had the option of going to the book store and reading the story if you wanted to. Even if you decided not to read the book, the writers did a phenomenal job of adapting the book to film.  • Even after Peter Jackson and crew delivered a superior cinematic experience at the theater....he then took it one step further by adding in more footage to the original movie to give the fans a superior DVD experience. And, unlike George Lucas, the production studio behind The Lord of the Rings, from the very beginning, gave the fans the option of choosing either the Original Theatrical Version or the New Expanded Version  DANNY is now, and forever will be, a Life-Long Fan of Peter Jackson because of the work that he did with The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Watching his vision of the original story in the theater was some of the most fun I've ever had at the movies. This must be how people felt watching the original Star Wars Trilogy back in the late 70's and early 80's.....a real once-in-a-generation experience. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy takes the original Star Wars Trilogy's place as The Best Trilogy Ever Filmed. P.S. Be sure to watch the Special Extended Version of The Return of the King....it's much better than the theatrical version! 2nd P.S. I made a few comments about the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy....Click Here!  Click Here!  
Aragorn: Let the lord of the Black Land come forth! Let justice be done upon him! The Mouth of Sauron: My master, Sauron the Great, bids thee welcome. Is there any in this rabble with authority to treat with me? Gandalf: We do not come to treat with Sauron, faithless and accursed. Tell your master this: the armies of Mordor must disband. He is to depart these lands, never to return. The Mouth of Sauron: Ahh, old grey beard. I have a token I was bidden to show thee. [Pulls out Frodo's mithril vest and throws it at them] Pippin: [whispers] Frodo... Gandalf: Silence. Merry: No! Gandalf: Silence! The Mouth of Sauron: The halfling was dear to thee, I see. Know that he suffered greatly at the hands of his host. Who knew that one so small could endure so much pain? And he did, Gandalf, he did. [pause; Aragorn rides towards the Mouth of Sauron] The Mouth of Sauron: And who is this? Isildur's heir? It takes more to make a king that a broken elvish blade... [Aragorn cuts off the Mouth of Sauron's head with one stroke of Anduril] Gimli: I guess that concludes negotiations. Aragorn: [to Gandalf] I do not believe it! I will not! Cool Movie Quote — No. 2 Denethor: Is there a captain here who still has the courage to do his lord's will? Faramir: You wish now that our places had been exchanged... that I had died and Boromir had lived. Denethor: Yes. [whispering] Denethor: I wish that. Faramir: Since you are robbed of Boromir... I will do what I can in his stead. [Bows and turns to leave] Faramir: If I should return, think better of me, Father. Denethor: That will depend on the manner of your return. Cool Movie Quote — No. 3 Gamling: He leaves because there is no hope. Theoden: He leaves because he must. Gamling: Too few have come. We cannot defeat the armies of Mordor. Theoden: No. We cannot. But we will meet them in battle nonetheless. Cool Movie Quote — No. 4 Eowyn: I will kill you if you touch him! Witch King: Do not come between the Nazgul and his prey. Cool Movie Quote — No. 5 Aragorn: For Frodo!  Rotten Tomatoes!  Classic Action-Adventure Movies 
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
