Yet More Thoughts on The Lord of the Rings

Yep, my latest Lord of the Rings rewatch is over, with The Return of the King under my belt once more. As the longest film in the trilogy and the one (in my opinion) that justifies that length the least, my mind can wander at times watching it, which is probably why I’d rank it as my least favorite of the three. However, that is only because, if you’re ranking three things, one of them by necessity is going to be at the bottom. That does not mean I’m not in love with the film, or that it isn’t still exquisite, because it is.

This is the one that brought it all home. Endings are a tall order, and at the time that the movie came out, something of this scale really hadn’t been done before. There was a lot that it had to live up to, both for fans of the books who were eager to see their favorite scenes brought to life and for movie-only fans who were anxious to see how the trilogy was going to resolve. And within that difficult job, I’d say Peter Jackson and co. stuck the landing, even if it can be a little confusing to count the succession of scenes that all feel like endings.

As I contemplate today, the main subject that comes to mind is, “Why Lord of the Rings?” What is it about this series that stirs my imagination and grabs my heart? And at its core, I think it’s love.

I’ve talked before about the careful production design, the beautiful score, the not-a-weak-link-among-‘em cast. Everyone involved in these films is giving it their all, gave years of their lives to shoot an entire trilogy at once (many of them traveling halfway around the world to do it,) believing in what they were creating long before the suits had a single film that they could sell. That’s because everyone, by all evidence, truly loved what they were doing here. Some were longtime book fans whose dreams were coming true, while others had never read the books before getting cast. But regardless of where they came to the production, they all got on board with the vision of the films—the scale of the story, the delicate business of creating a fantasy world that genuinely feels lived-in, and the enormous task of bringing these characters and their tale to life. In every aspect of the trilogy, you can see the love that went into it.

More than that, we see the love between the characters. Sam, Pippin, and Merry refusing to let Frodo journey off into danger without them. The growing friendship between Gimli and Legolas, defying the longstanding animosity between their races. Boromir giving his life to try and protect Merry and Pippin, Legolas and Gimli joining Aragorn in his vow to recover their captured friends. Gandalf’s love and affection for the halflings, especially Frodo. The love between these characters leaps off the screen and grabs you, and whether the scene is comical, intense, or heartbreaking, every moment of it feels genuine.

Those character relationships are further informed by the love between the cast. Sharing this massive undertaking together put all of these actors in a very particular club, and that bonded them for life. It’s why I love watching that Zoom reunion or seeing pictures of the four actors who played the hobbits still getting together to hang out. They were all acting onscreen, of course, but the friendships they forged were real.

Here are the moments that were my special favorites from The Return of the King this time around. Most of them, I think, are pretty tried-and-true classics, but that’s all right. Part of the reason I can watch these films over and over is because different moments stand out each time, but it’s also because certain moments never fail to move me.

·        Legolas’s reactions during the “drinking competition”

·        Merry and Pippin saying goodbye before Gandalf takes Pippin to Gondor

·        “But he’s a liar!” – gaahh, poor Sam. My heart!

·        Pippin’s. SONG. Every single time, I hold my breath watching this scene.

·        “It is not this day!”, such a banger of a speech.

·        Pippin finding Merry on the battlefield and promising to look after him.

·        The four hobbits exchanging that heavy, knowing look when they sit down together back home at the Green Dragon.

The Return of the King (1955)

Even though The Return of the King has some undeniably-great stuff in it, I think that, like the movie, it’s my least favorite of the trilogy, albeit for different reasons  Still, the great stuff is excellent enough that it’s ultimately a very good read.

The war for Middle-earth comes to a head in the final chapters of The Lord of the Rings saga.  The corrupting influence of the Ring threatens to tear Frodo and Sam apart as they finally reach Mordor.  Gandalf tries to assist the human kingdom of Gondor as it’s set upon by Sauron’s forces, and Aragorn works to unite the kingdoms of men to fight together, as the long-awaited king they need.

We’ll start with the main detractor.  This, of course, is that the quest comes to an end when there’s still more than 80 pages left.  This is a problem the movie inherits from the book, but it’s even more dramatic here.  It takes forever to wrap up the story, and while I understand the purpose behind the scouring-of the-Shire sequence, it’s hugely anticlimactic after all that came before it.  There’s no reason it needsd to be as long as it is.

That really is the biggest strike against it, but it does have quite an effect on the overall feel of the book.  It buries the strongest, most compelling scenes and it makes the end of the book feel like a chore.  Instead of riding to a strong climax, it kind of plods to a drawn-out finish.

Which is a shame, because the great stuff is so great.  There’s Sam’s big sequence, which has always been my favorite part of the story, along with Eowyn’s beautiful storyline and the way Gollum factors into the critical moment.  I also like the fall of Denethor and how that plot builds and develops.

This book sees the original fellowship more fragmented than ever, with members scattered across a number of different locales and among different groups – it’s definitely hard to wait until the second half of the book for the resumption of Sam and Frodo’s plotline, although very satisfying when it finally does.  But if it splits them apart, it also brings them back together, and it is one of the good points of the over-long ending; I love these characters, and I especially love them as a unit.

Warnings

Fantasy violence, disturbing/scary moments, smoking/drinking, and strong thematic elements.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003, PG-13)

Okay, so I initially planned to watch maybe one Lord of the Rings film a week, knowing what a time investment they are, and even then, I figured I’d probably space out my reviews a little more than that.  Nope – all three movies (and reviews) in the space of a week.  Ah, LOTR.  It’s been good to see you again, old friend.

Even though it’s still quite a good movie, The Return of the King is easily my least favorite of trilogy.  I supposed its Best Picture win (and general Oscar clean sweep) was a reward for the cumulative accomplishments of all three films, combined with a year without a lot of other strong Best Picture contenders.  Still, considering the Academy’s usual snobbery toward genre films, it was a massive achievement, and even with its faults, I was still glad to see it take home all those trophies in the end, and now to rewatch it as well.

The war for Middle-Earth comes to a head in the final chapters of The Lord of the Rings saga.  The corrupting influence of the Ring threatens to tear Frodo and Sam apart as they finally reach Mordor.  Gandalf tries to assist the human kingdom of Gondor as it’s set upon by Sauron’s forces, and Aragorn works to unite the kingdoms of men to fight together, all the while wondering if he can truly step forward and be the king they need.

I’ll start with my issues first.  Mainly, the film falls into two traps for me:  the plot hopping from battle to battle and an overreliance on CGI.  While the earlier two films have several very specific battle sequences at key points (even if those sequences are quite long, as in the Battle of Helms Deep,) The Return of the King feels a lot more sprawling in its fighting.  I suppose it’s understandable, since this is the big culmination of the war, but at a point, it all starts to run together and isn’t as effective as a whole.  And on the second point, each consecutive film gradually moves more toward digital effects and away from the practical, and The Return of the King isn’t entirely well-served for it.  Watching the Rohirim ride through waves of CGI Orcs looks really fake, as does the initial assault on Minas Tirith (I do continue to enjoy Legolas taking down an Oliphant, though.)  Additionally, the multiple endings thing is a definite problem.  If each sequence there could’ve been just a little shorter and a bit less significant and final-seeming, it would’ve worked a lot better.  And the long fades to black when it’s not the end of the movie yet!  That’s the part of it that throws me the most, honestly – just cutting those out would improve it quite a bit.

But ultimately, I do still love the movie.  There are so many wonderful moments.  Eowyn and the Witch King of Angmar is a standout for me, since I always loved that storyline in the old cartoon when I was growing up.  It’s great to see both Merry and Pippin come into their own – I adore them together, but it’s separately that they’re each able to really shine.  (Side note:  Pippin singing “The Edge of Night” is so beautiful.)  I still remember how freaky it was to watch the scene in Shelob’s lair for the first time in the theater, and I love every minute of Sam being the sweetest, loveliest tiny badass around.  And since there’s only one really noteworthy new cast member in this film, I’ll mention him in this paragraph as well – John Noble is really effective as Denethor.

Watching these films when they first came out will always be special to me.  They were something large and wonderful to be a part of, and even though I can now see their rougher edges a bit better, I still appreciate them and all the love that went into them.  They’re a cinematic journey, and it’s been beautiful to walk that road again.

Warnings

Fantasy violence, scary moments, drinking/smoking, and thematic elements.