The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
I saw Return of the King on Wednesday at 1 PM, but haven't had time to sit down and write what I thought about it until now. In short, this is probably one of the greatest films I will ever see. There was nothing about it that disappointed me or did not live up to my high expectations.
Specifically, there are a few things I need to comment on. The first is the sheer brutality of the film. Peter Jackson didn't pull any punches in showcasing how fucking awful the War of the Ring was, from the Nazgul picking up the Gondorian sentries from the pinnacle of Minas Tirith and dropping them to their deaths to the Oliphants drop-kicking the horses of the Rohirrim. I cringed and turned away from the screen during some of the battle scenes.
While on the topic of the Nazgul, I must also discuss their horrible voices. The scene where Frodo is nearly caught at the gates of Minas Morgul was literally terrifying. I know that buried among the DVDs I already have is a featurette about how they created the scream of the Nazgul, but I've yet to find it. Can anyone out there help me figure it out?
Shelob was wonderfully animated. I hate spiders, and Amanda tells me that my grip on her leg tightened noticeably whenever she was on-screen. Frodo's (and Sam's) encounters with her were everything I could have hoped for.
Above all, The Return of the King was a tremendously emotional experience. I don't know if it was because I've known the characters and stories for so long, or that the first two films did such a great job of setting up the denouement (probably a combination of these factors), but I cried more at this movie than any other I can remember. If I were to meet Peter Jackson, I wouldn't know how to thank him for these films; I'd really just like to give him a big hug.
December 19, 2003 - 04:12 PM