"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" Talkback (Spoilers)

[Lord Dalek]

THE JOURNEY ENDS.



"I'm glad to be with you, Samwise Gamgee, here at the end of all things." - Frodo Baggins

Release Date: December 17, 2003
Studio: New Line Cinema/Wingnut Films
Director: Peter Jackson
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 (Super 35)
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Bernard Hill, Christopher Lee, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Karl Urban, John Noble, Andy Serkis, Ian Holm, Sean Bean

Plot Summary: While Frodo & Sam continue to approach Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring, unaware of the path Gollum is leading them, the former Fellowship aid Rohan & Gondor in a great battle in the Pelennor Fields, Minas Tirith and the Black Gates as Sauron wages his last war against Middle-Earth.

COMMENTS?

LD Talkback #212

Now that's out of the way...

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The best thing Peter Jackson ever directed or was even associated with, for that matter. It may sound cliche, but its easily the strongest movie of an already great trilogy. Yeah, it takes a lot of liberties from the book(s) but that's the nature of being an adaptation, and it is specifically geared to work as a film, which it does extremely well at.

[Spark Of Spirit]

This is a better trilogy than Star Wars.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The best movie one one of my favorite movie trilogies of all time. Yeah, I know I didn't rank it in my top 30 list if only because it doesn't get quite as many re-watches from me as the movies that I ranked in that list, but consider it to be one of those movie trilogies that just barely missed the cut-off for my list. That said if I were to extend my choices to my top 50, it'd definitely make the list.

As far as Return of the King goes, I felt that this movie excels at pacing above the previous LOTR films as well as The Hobbit. The stakes always felt like they were building and the movie just managed to keep topping itself with each new scene. Its very much a movie that never lost my interest even once, despite its immense length.

This is a better trilogy than Star Wars.

For yet a third time, agreed.

[Lord Dalek]

This is a better trilogy than Star Wars.

LOTR is not a trilogy.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

LOTR is not a trilogy.

The Peter Jackson film adaptations are.

And you could argue that Star Wars was no longer a trilogy the moment Lucas decided to make the prequels, as it technically becomes a 6-episode affair, and people like to split them into 2-separate trilogies for their own comfort in order to remember the classics more fondly.

Well, either way:

The Empire Strikes Back = Return of the King > The Two Towers > Fellowship of the Ring > A New Hope > Return of the Jedi >>>> Episodes I - III

For the record, I enjoy everything up to Return of the Jedi. I don't detest the prequels to the level that everyone else does, but I have developed my own personal dislike for them the more that I re-watch them. Episode III at least still has its occasional moments, though.

[talonmalon333]

Return of the King is easily my favorite of the trilogy. The fact that it was made to run over 3 hours, while still having the best pacing of the trilogy and is a simple masterpiece, is commendable. My friends and I are watching the extended Blu-Ray versions of the movies before going to see Hobbit. And somehow, I have a feeling that Return of the King will still feel the shortest, even if it well exceeds 4 hours.

The Empire Strikes Back = Return of the King > The Two Towers > Fellowship of the Ring > A New Hope > Return of the Jedi >>>> Episodes I - III

Putting Episode V slightly above Return of the King, and flipping Fellowship of the Ring and New Hope, and you've got my list.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Updated ranking with The Hobbit included:

The Empire Strikes Back = Return of the King > The Two Towers > Fellowship of the Ring = An Unexpected Journey > A New Hope > Return of the Jedi >>>> Episodes I - III

[Spark Of Spirit]

Return of the King > The Empire Strikes Back = Fellowship of the Ring > The Two Towers >  An Unexpected Journey > A New Hope > Return of the Jedi >>>> ROTS >>>> AOTC >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> TPM

This is a better trilogy than Star Wars.

LOTR is not a trilogy.

I'm going by the films. The OT trilogy and the Peter Jackson LOTR films.

Most of my reaction comes from Kevin Smith's very stupid and shallow complaints, though. I really do like the OT trilogy. But it is not "the trilogy" that gen-xers rave about, and I've never thought of it as such.

[talonmalon333]

Got done watching the Blu-Ray extended version of this, which clocks at roughly 4 hrs 30 mins. Holy hell, this movie blows me away every time I see it. As far as battles go, the one I always remember most in the trilogy is the battle at Helm's Deep, as it's the longest battle and it's in the Lord of the Rings movie that I've seen the most. But the fights in this movie really are much better than that one. And just about all of the characters are at  their most likeable here, Sam in particular. Seriously, I challenge anyone to find a better "best friend" in nearly anything else ever.

I also quite like the added footage in this version. It deals with my only real issue in the original version, in that Saruman is simply pushed to the side and ignored. It also fleshes out some other things. I like the added footage in the extended versions of all the movies, really. Return of the Kings is easily the best because, well, it already was. But anyway, pretty soon I'll be seeing the Hobbit, probably next weekend or so.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Yeah, in the theatrical version we never find out what happened to Saruman which I thought was odd at the time. The extended edition really helps flesh everything out.

[talonmalon333]

So I noticed this thread again and remembered that I meant to do my own ranking order with Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. But I guess I forgot by the time I saw The Hobbit. So this is how I'll rank the movies now.

Empire Strikes Back > Return of the King > Two Towers > A New Hope > Fellowship of the Ring > Return of the Jedi >>> Revenge of the Sith = The Hobbit >>> Attack of the Clones >> Phantom Menace

Empire Strikes Back tops it purely by being one of my absolute all time favorites. I love every movie in both original trilogies, really. The Hobbit and Revenge of the Sith land a few miles lower because they are both plagued by an endless amount of flaws but are still entertaining enough to be good movies (but nothing higher than that). Attack of the Clones is a bit of a guilty pleasure because the story still sucks in it and the dialogue can be awful, but the action, even if it's shallow, brings some entertainment value to me. Phantom Menace is just bad though.