***The Following is a Review of the 252-minute Extended Version of the Film***
The film revolves around a fellowship who take their final steps to finish a quest to destroy a dark lord’s ring that is in the possession of a hobbit who is tasked to take the ring to its homeland and destroy it. It is a film that serves as a culmination of everything that had been told in previous stories where four hobbits, two men, a wizard, an elf, and a dwarf all choose to take part in a quest to destroy the ring of Sauron where there is a lot at stake. In this third film, the stakes are even bigger with Gondor being in danger from Sauron’s forces in both orcs and humans ready to attack while two hobbits are continuing their journey to Mordor with Gollum guiding them unaware that Gollum is going to betray them over what happened at Gondor. Meanwhile, the rest of the fellowship would split with two of them going to Gondor while the rest remain at Rohan planning the next battle against Sauron.
The film’s screenplay by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens does continue a cross-cutting narrative though it opens with how Smeagol became Gollum after he kills his cousin Deagol (Thomas Robins) over the ring that Deagol found. It then cuts to the main narrative where Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) continue their trek to Mordor with Gollum as they are unaware of his intentions. The narrative also plays into the brief reunion between members of the fellowship in Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), Gandalf (Ian McKellan), Merry (Dominic Monaghan), and Pippin (Billy Boyd) at Isengard in the aftermath of Rohan’s battle against the Uruk-hai where Gandalf finds the Palantir previously owned by Saruman (Christopher Lee) where Pippin makes a discovery into what Sauron is doing next. It would force Gandalf to go to Gondor with Pippin to warn its steward in Lord Denethor (John Noble) about Sauron’s upcoming attack. Instead, the grief-stricken Denethor refuses to listen to Gandalf aware of Aragorn’s claim to Gondor’s throne leaving the land and its city of Minas Tirith vulnerable despite its defense led by Denethor’s son Faramir (David Wenham).
The script does help complete some unique character arcs for the fellowship but also in the stakes were Aragorn’s lover in elvish Arwen (Liv Tyler) has chosen to stay in Middle Earth after seeing a vision of the future but her fate becomes tied to the fate of the Ring. Her father Elrond (Hugo Weaving) realizes that he must help Aragorn in going into a dark land as it relates to an army of the dead who had been cursed in their refusal to help Isildur (Harry Sinclair). The second act relates to the siege of Gondor where Gandalf leads its army to defend the city of Minas Tirith while Lord Denethor succumbs to madness believing Rohan has abandoned him. The third act does relate to not Frodo and Sam’s continued journey towards Mordor despite major obstacles with Aragorn finally accepting his role as Gondor’s king where he challenges Sauron.
Jackson’s direction is immense in terms of the large set pieces, settings, and myriads of tones that he would create throughout the film as it is shot on location in New Zealand including studios in the country for some scenes. The film’s opening prologue relates to how Smeagol became Gollum displays the horror of what the ring did to him as it would then cut to many years later where Frodo and Sam get ready for another day of walking with Gollum towards Mordor. The usage of wide and medium shots play into the world that is Middle Earth with its mountains, forests, rivers, valleys, lakes, and fields as they do function as characters in the film. One notable sequence where Jackson takes advantage of the locations is a sequence where Pippin lights a beacon at Minas Tirith leading to a series of beacons on the mountains lighting up. It shows that ordinary people in the mountains all have a role to play as Aragorn would see a beacon lit as it would play into Rohan answering the call.
Jackson also maintains some intimacy and calmer moments such as scenes of Gandalf and Pippin at Minas Tirith where they watch over the storm at Mordor where a beam shot from a castle at Mordor shots up. Jackson’s close-ups show the sense of fear and dread in Gondor with Sauron’s forces including the Nazgul led by the Witch-King of Angmar (Lawrence Makoare). Jackson’s direction knows when to create a sense of calm before the storm as it includes these tense moments where Gollum would try to create discord between Sam and Frodo with the former realizing what Gollum is up to. The tension also occurs involving Faramir and Denethor with the former taking on a suicide charge to reclaim Osgiliath only to return as its unconscious sole survivor leading Denethor into a state of madness just as the orcs have arrived at Pelennor Fields. The Siege of Minas Tirith is among one of the finest sequences ever created where Jackson highlights a lot of depth of field into how massive the orc army is that would later include the Haradrim and a group of pirates whom Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli would confront on their way to Gondor.
The extended version of the film, in its 252-minute running time, adds a lot more depth to the story where Jackson allow characters and moments to breathe more. Even in some of the smaller moments such as a brief conversation between Merry and Eowyn as the former reveals why he wants to fight. One major sequence in the extended version that was not in the theatrical version involves a confrontation at Isengard where Saruman (Christopher Lee) is bitter about his loss as he tries to attack Gandalf. It is also a scene that includes Grima Wormtongue (Brad Dourif) who had assisted Saruman but is at a sense of loss where Theoden offers his forgiveness. The extended version also does more with what happened in the Battle of Pelennor Fields that would involve so many things including a confrontation between Gandalf and the Witch-King of Angmar. The third act is where Jackson slows things down as it relates to Frodo and Sam walking towards Mount Doom as it include some dark humorous moments as well as a sense of loss in which Frodo starts to lose his own identity and cannot remember the life he once had.
The film’s post-climax does involve a lot of endings, yet it is more about the aftermath of everything that happened. Jackson approaches these loose ends where it plays into characters returning home yet nothing is the same for one character. Even so it would involve a brief return from Bilbo (Ian Holm) who has aged since having parted with the ring as he would ask about it. It is followed by the idea of death as the next big adventure while a character would return home with a task to finish the story that everyone had experienced. Overall, Jackson crafts a film that is epic in every sense of the word as it plays into a group of creatures trying to save Middle Earth from a dark lord.
Cinematographer Andrew Lesnie does phenomenal work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of colorful lighting for some of the daytime scenes as well as the color grading and lighting textures that help maintain an atmosphere for some of the battle scenes as well as some scenes set at night. Editors Jamie Selkirk and Annie Collins do brilliant work with the editing in the usage of slow-motion cuts for some of the action and suspense along with fast-cutting for some of the battle scenes and dramatic moments such as Lord Denethor’s mad state as it relates to Faramir. Production designer Grant Major, with set decorator/supervising art director Dan Hennah, set decorator Alan Lee, and co-conceptual designer John Howe, does incredible work with the sets that include the look of Minas Tirith, the hall of the king, and some of the places in Mordor including Mount Doom. Costume designers Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor do excellent work with the costumes that include the armor that Merry and Pippin would wear to respectfully represent Rohan and Gondor as well as the look of the armor of the orcs and the final armor that Aragorn wears for its climax.
Hair and makeup designers Peter Swords King and Peter Owen do amazing work with the look of the orcs including the orc commander Gothmog (Lawrence Makoare) and the look of the elderly Bilbo. Visual effects supervisor Jim Rygiel does tremendous work with the visual effects for some of the set dressing of the locations including Minas Tirith as well as some of the creatures including the Ents for the brief scene at Isengard, the Nazgul, the oliphaunt, and the eagles would play a key role in the final battle. Sound designers David Farmer, Michael Semanick, and Ethan van der Ryn, along with sound editor Mike Hopkins, do superb work with the sound in terms of the atmosphere of the sounds in the battle scenes as well as other sparse sounds in some of the locations. The film’s music by Howard Shore is incredible for its soaring orchestral score that play into the bombast of some of the action, suspense, and drama with the usage of string arrangements, percussions, vocals, brass, and woodwinds to help add to the stakes and drama. The film also features a great original song written by Shore, Fran Walsh, and Annie Lennox in Into the West as it serves as a fitting finale for the trilogy.
The casting by Victoria Burrows, Amy Hubbard, John Hubbard, Liz Mullane, and Ann Robinson is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Marton Csokas as the elf leader Celebron, Bret McKenzie as the elf guide Figwit, Sarah McLeod as the hobbit barmaid Rosie Cotton, Lawrence Makoare in a dual role as the Witch-king of Angmar and the orc commander Gothmog with Craig Parker as the voice of the latter, Alan Howard as the voices of Sauron and the ring, Thomas Robin as Smeagol’s cousin Deagol who found the ring, Ian Hughes as the Minas Tirith officer Irolas, John Bach as Faramir’s second-in-command Madril, Bruce Hopkins as a Rohirrim officer in Gamling, Paul Norell as the ghostly King of the Dead, Bruce Spence as the Mouth of Sauron in the extended version of the film, Sean Bean as Boromir as a ghostly figure in the extended version, and Ian Holm as Frodo’s uncle Bilbo as the old hobbit who had once had the ring where he later asks Frodo if he still has it. Christopher Lee and Brad Dourif are excellent in their respective brief roles as the wizard Saruman and Grima Wormtongue with the former being an ally to Sauron that has lost everything as he tries to battle Gandalf while the latter is a spy of Saruman who feels remorse for his actions despite the abuse he receives from Saruman.
John Noble and David Wenham are brilliant in their respective roles as Lord Denethor and his son Faramir with the former succumbing to madness and grief as he continues to berate Faramir for not living up to expectations. Wenham’s performance as Faramir highlights a man who realized what happened to his older brother Boromir where he deals with his father’s criticism as he goes on a futile quest to win his father’s approval. Karl Urban is superb as King Theoden’s nephew Eomer who is the leader of the Rohirrim as he proves to be one of Aragorn’s most loyal figures as he also proves to be a warrior on the battlefield. Bernard Hill is fantastic as King Theoden of Rohan as a king who is reluctant to help Gondor but realizes what is at stake where he knows that he and Rohirrim are outnumbered but remains this great leader who can inspire many to fight. Miranda Otto is amazing as Eomer’s sister Eowyn as a woman who is in love with Aragorn but also wants to prove herself as a warrior where she would disguise herself as a man at the Battle of Pelennor Fields where she really kicks some ass.
The trio of Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, and Hugo Weaving are incredible in their respective roles as the elvish queen Galadriel, Arwen, and Lord Elrond with Blanchett appearing in a few moments such as guiding Frodo as well as appearing in the penultimate scene of the film. Tyler brings gracefulness to the role of Arwen, who has her own vision of the future as the decision she makes is linked with her fate of the ring. Weaving’s performance is doubtful of men until he decides to help Aragorn by reforging Isildur’s sword so that Aragorn can claim his throne. Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd are great in their respective roles as the hobbits Merry and Pippin who both go on separate journeys with Merry staying at Rohan where he becomes a squire for King Theoden while Pippin becomes the guard of the Citadel at Gondor where both hobbits prove their worth. Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davies are phenomenal in their respective roles as the elf warrior Legolas and the dwarf Gimli as two members of the fellowship who help Aragorn in convincing the Army of the Dead while becoming the best of friends while Rhys-Davies also does additional voice work for the Ent character Treebeard.
Ian McKellan and Viggo Mortensen are tremendous in their respective roles as the wizard Gandalf and the heir to Gondor’s throne in Aragorn with the former as a resurrected wizard who goes to Gondor with Pippin where he expresses his own doubts while he does what he can to lead Gondor into battle. Mortensen’s performance as Aragorn shows a former ranger who realizes the role he must accept where he would also take on a leadership role that includes a great speech in the final battle that shows that he is worthy to be king. Sean Astin is remarkable as Samwise Gamgee as Frodo’s friend who accompanies him to Mordor where he becomes aware of Gollum’s deceit where he deals with Frodo banishing him only to later return where he is the film’s conscious in doing what is right and to remind Frodo about the good of the world.
Andy Serkis is magnificent as Smeagol/Gollum as a hobbit who had become a creature that once possessed the ring for hundreds of years as he hopes to reclaim where he would do what he can to deceive all and reclaim the ring. Serkis’ performance also shows the descent of someone who used to be good only to succumb to greed as it is a performance for the ages. Finally, there is Elijah Wood in a spectacular performance as Frodo Baggins as a hobbit who carries the ring to Mordor where he starts to lose parts of his own identity as he would also descent to the ring’s power. Wood also has the most physically-demanding performance of someone that is just becoming tired as he has the weight of everything to be the one to destroy the ring followed by an aftermath that has him coping with everything he had dealt with as it is an iconic performance from Wood.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is an outstanding film by Peter Jackson. Featuring a great ensemble cast, top-notch visual effects, gorgeous photography, a riveting story of good vs. evil, and Howard Shore’s ravishing music score. It is a film that goes beyond the description of an epic as it is also the culmination of a grand story that shows four little hobbits making a big impact on a magical land with elves, dwarves, and human beings. In the end, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a magnificent film by Peter Jackson.
Peter Jackson Films: (Bad Taste) – (Meet the Feebles) – (Braindead) – (Heavenly Creatures) – (Forgotten Silver) – (The Frighteners) – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - (King Kong (2005 film)) – (The Lovely Bones) – (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) – (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) – (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies) – (They Shall Grow Old Together) – The Beatles: Get Back
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