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A Return Of The King Review
I must have read the trilogy three or four times since I was first introduced to it via The Hobbit back in grade-school. I am not a purist, but some of the changes Peter Jackson has made along the way weren't to my liking. For example, I didn't like the deviation in Faramir's character during the Two Towers, despite Peter Jackson's claim that he needed to create additional tension and discord beyond what Tolkien included.
The Return of the King has same flaws, but overall I thought it was a more engaging movie than the previous ones. Beware, there are a few spoilers ahead; obviously, most of the Slashdot crowd knows the story in the books, but what will follow should be considered a spoiler, as I am describing Jackson's adaptation of the book.
The movie opens at what I thought to be a strange spot - Smeagol's killing his friend for the Ring; why not put this in the first movie? I think this may have been foreshadowing one of the more prominent departures from the book: Jackson decided to increase the tension between Sam and Frodo over the Ring, with Golem playing on Frodo's Ring-induced distrust. This tension did exist in the book, but Jackson makes it more overt. Personally, I thought it was a little over the top.
Obviously, the book is too large to be made into even a three-hour movie, but I found that one large part is missing that I hoped would be covered: the Battle of Bywater. In the book, when Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin arrive back at the Shire, they discover that Saruman and his thugs have enslaved the Hobbits. I have hope that this may be added into an Extended-Edition (probably due out this time next year).
A good chunk of this movie is spent on the moments leading up to the battle, the battle itself, and the immediate aftermath. As a result, I noticed that there were a lot of speeches of the sabre-rattling kind made by principal characters that I'm sure weren't there in the book -- a kind of Holywood-ization in the Gladiator spirit. It probably makes the movie more interesting to people who haven't and won't read the book.
The humor that could be found in The Two Towers (specifically, Gimli) carries over into The Return of the King. I didn't mind the humor, though I know it's an addition that Jackson made.
Along the way, I noticed other small deviations, but I'll leave those for Tolkien fans to argue over.
Enough complaints; there were a lot of great scenes, and many of the plot lines were handled deftly by Jackson.
Shelob getting Frodo, and Sam taking him for dead, is done particularily well. Jackson didn't change much at all here, and the effects are great.
From the book, I remember a strong impression of bleakness as Sam and Frodo take the final stage of their journey to Mount Doom -- Jackson got that dead-on. Jackson does an excellent job showing the toll that the Ring is taking on Frodo.
The battle outside the walls of Minas Tirith puts the battle of Helm's Deep to shame. The high walls of the city built into the cliff, with a huge army of orcs outside the walls, have to be seen to be believed. I don't actually remember any in-depth description of the battle outside Gondor (in fact, I don't remember any great battle depictions from any of the books -- bad memory?), but Jackson does a great job of providing one. The trebuchets are particularily engaging.
Overall, I would have to say that this was my favorite of the three movies. The movie was a little more grim, a little darker, and showed some of the violence and fighting in a more disturbing fashion. I am hoping that some of what I perceived as shortcomings will be fixed in the Extended Edition (the Two Towers's Extended Edition was a much better movie that the theatre version). I can't wait to see it again.
"...and whose girlfriend couldn't make it to the screening."
Because you hit her with a cinderblock ?
In Soviet America the banks rob you!
I'm fortunate in that I have a friend who works for EA, and whose girlfriend couldn't make it to the screening.
The sooner you and your "friend" face up to the reality of your relationship, the happier you'll both be. Vancouver is a very progressive city; it's not as if you two will have to fear for your lives when you hold hands in public.
As for the rest of your friends, the real ones will accept you as you are.
i cant read the article...no spoilers for me....i havent read the books...aw, hell...Dec 17th will bring the answers for us commonfolk
nothing.can.stop.me.now
Seriously, anybody who's been to any of the 12:01am showings for movies like LotR or Star Wars knows what I'm talking about. You'll get hordes of people dressed up like Gandalf (albeit some morbidly obese variant of him) trying to hit you with a broom handle that they insist on calling a quarterstaff.
On a side note, what sort of self-respecting /.er would be wary of spoilers regarding LotR?
Yeah, right.
I heard there's a book that tells the whole sotry of the three movies... And more!!!
And it's written by a good author, too...
Kriox
Spoilers? Like what? Gollum is Frodo's father? Sam tying the deflector dish to the warp drive to escape Mordor? OTOH, with what I've heard is being cut, maybe I shouldn't be suprised.
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
Oh man! That just ruined it for me!
Wasn't this film originally going to be called "Revenge of the King", but they changed the name after some marketing material had already been prepared?
I'm guessing this means that all the EA employees that went to the film will no longer have jobs; this is probably their severance package. :)
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
Spoilers? Are there any slashdot users who haven't read the book? :-)
<sig>Guvf vf abg n frperg zrffntr
I have two exams on the 17th day and seeing as how I flunked the midterms for both classes, I won't be given a B.Sc in May if I go.
That being said I have tickets for 12:01.
Who cares if you flunk a couple in the long run anyways?
I don't know about anyone else, but I personally would miss the hobbit-battle at the end against the orcs. There's just something cool about little guys getting all ferocious and kicking the ass of bigger, evil types. I can just imagine a line of hobbits lined up with pitchforks and rakes, charging at half a dozen orcs, and the orcs turning to run. Good stuff. :)
I imagine that this end battle is what Lucas shaped his Endor battle after, to a degree - at least in concept. Little 'cute' guys kicking the asses of much bigger, more agressive baddies in a humorous manner.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
Well, let's see. When you have obscene amounts of cash...
Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
You don't. Choose "Plain Old Text" when posting. Especially when karma whoring.
OMFG U R TEH N00B! (just kidding.)
Ron Paul 2012
Darth Vader is Luke's father. Apollo 13 makes it home safely. Hal9000 kills the crew. Sarah Connor crushes the Terminator in a metal press. Khan is killed in the Genesis explosion while Kirk escapes. Spiderman kills the Green Goblin. ET phones home and a spaceship comes to rescue him. Ripley blows the Alien out an airlock. Major Kong rides an H-Bomb to the target and the Doomsday Weapon is detonated. The Planet of the Apes is really Earth. Butch and Sundance get killed by the Peruvian Army. Spartacus gets crucified. Frodo throws Gollum and the Ring into the pit, defeating Evil.
You ARE aware that New England (Connecticut, Massechusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine) is part of the United States aren't you?
Black and grey are both shades of white.
Go outside more.
I own two motorcycles. I rode one of them across the U.S. this summer, so I get out plenty.
Even in the middle of Texas at 90mph on my Triumph, I still think Peter Jackson still sucks ass.
original AC
Yeah...its cool how an actor's anima is contiguous between movies. Especially in Lord of the Rings: think Elrond=Agent Smith, Gandalf=Magneto, Legolas=Will Turner (from Pirates of the Carribean) , Aragorn=Frank Hopkins (from Hidalgo), and Arwen=Hot Babe (in every movie she's been in).
Also, Billy Boyd, who plays Pippin, will be a funny guy with cool accent in any movie he's in.
Imagine at the end of RotJ, after the destruction of the death star, but before the Ewok dance number, we are subjected to twenty minutes of Luke returning to Tatooine and discovering a sith jedi is still loose and making things miserable for Mos Eisley.
:)
Hmm. Could we have that INSTEAD of the Ewok dance number? Especially the new one?
No wait. Let's do that with all the Ewok scenes
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
For Tolkien's sake, if you are reviewing a movie on Slashdot, please, check the fucking spelling! Lest we will hear about dwarf Gimmler, hobbit Poppy and Agronome the King...
Future Wiki -- If you don't think about the future, you cannot have one.
(It's funny to see someone demanding that others give up hope when the subject is Lord of the Rings.)
The outrage and expectation beyond hope is justifiable to fans of the novel. "Scouring" is the denouement, where the climax is actually *resolved*. It demonstrates in no uncertain terms that things are different, permanently, because of the events that have transpired. The Shire had changed along with the hobbits despite their absence. Things would not go back to normal just because the ring was gone and Merry and Pippin were home. The elves are gone and Men would be in charge. "Scouring" was the first glimpse of the Age that had just been born through Frodo, Sam and Gollum's actions. Unlike other nixed material like Tom Bombadil, or changed material like Arwen or Faramir's characters and roles, "Scouring" is actually essential to the gist of the story, which Peter Jackson was supposedly guarding despite his changes.
+1 Better adaptation than Lucas's "prequels"
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== WolfriderV6 == I'm willing to admit that *I just might* be wrong... Are you??