Fan-Lit: Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Finally, I have completed the Lord of the Rings trilogy movies! It only took about four months. Since I was watching the over four hour long extended edition it was hard to find the time to sit down for that long. But I wanted to start off the New Year by finishing the movies. I went into this one with less anticipation than I did The Two Towers, but I wound up enjoying this movie even more. The only things that I had remembered from this movie were the giant spider scene and that the endings went on forever. So, not knowing much, I didn't know what to expect from this film. It continues from The Two Towers more so than The Two Towers picked up after The Fellowship, so I like the continuation of the story.

I loved the opening of the movie, giving us the back story of Gollum/Smeagal. It's a very tragic tale and so sad how he became so easily consumed by the ring. The fact that he dies trying to hold onto the ring as it is destroyed in Mount Doom is terrible but also poetic. Poor Gollum. I love his inner turmoil between his two persona's.

We finish quickly with Sarumon and worm tongue and then Gandalf goes off with Pippin to Gondor. While Aragorn stays in Rohan trying to rally the troops to fight. There's a whole quest with him, Gimli and Legolas recruiting the ghost soldiers into fighting with them in order to break their curse. One thing I have noticed about these three movies, it how well the visual effects are executed. The ghost soldiers look so real and the combination of practical and CGI effects work perfectly. I really enjoy the friendly rivalry between Gimli and Legolas, they provide the perfect about of comedy in these films.

As for the hobbits, I love the brave and courageous journey that all four of them go on in this film. From Pippin serving with Gandolf and doing the right thing stadning up to Denethor, to Merry wanting to fight in the battle. Sam not giving up on Frodo and the two of them making it to the top of Mount Doom to destroy the ring. It's no wonder Aragorn says they bow to no one, they are just as every bit of hero as Aragorn, Legolas, Gandolf and Gimli are in these movies.

Having not remembered much of this movie, there were a lot of surprises and some vaguely familiar elements, like the ghosts, and the Denethor character who is not really a good guy. I had completely forgotten the Faramir chraracter but I like him ending up with Eowyn, even though I liked her crush on Aragorn. One thing that I got very wrong in these three movies was the use of the Arwen character, I had thought she was in a lot more of these movies then she actually is. However, I like her decision to give up her immortality to be with Aragorn.

Speaking of Aragorn, A.K.A, Stryder, A.K.A the true king of Gondor, I love his journey from being hesitant to even join in the fight against the dark lord Sauron, to him rightfully claiming his place on the throne of Gondor. It's such a great story arc and I love the ending of this movie, everything form the tree of Gondor blooming to Arwen to the people bowing to the Hobbits. That's the perfect ending to this trilogy.

As for the multiple endings to the movie, it's more of an epilogue to the Hobbits story. I love that Sam gets his happy ending with Rosie. I had forgotten that Frodo and Bilbo went off to live with the Elves. It's a great few scenes that bring us back to the Shire, which is a great bookened to the journey that these characters have gone through in this Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Watching the extended editions of these movies has been interesting, considering I don't remember the theatrical editions all that well. So, I'm not sure what parts were added into the movies and if they made an impact story or not. Next time I will watch the theatrical versions but I really enjoyed watching these movies. I think that the movie I enjoy the most is The Fellowship of the Ring, but the best story is in Return of the King. Going into these movies I had thought The Two Towers was my favorite, but now it's my least favorite of this trilogy, with the exception that I love the Battle at Helm's Deep.

So, while it took a long time to get through The Lord of the Rings movies, I am very happy that I watched them. It's a great story, about friendship, finding one's identity and standing up for what's right in the world. I have not read the books, because I know they can be a bit dense and dry, but I will get around to reading them some day. If only to get more out of the story. The world that J.R.R. Tolkien has created is rich and full of interesting chraracters. As for the Hobbit movies, well, I have seen the first two, but not in any hurry to watch those movies. Right now, I'll just enjoy the marvel that is the original Lord of the Rings trilogy.