'Return of the King' a cinematic acheivement
Directed by Peter Jackson
Screenplay by Fran Walsh, Phillippa Boyens and Peter Jackson
based on the books by the distinguished Professor J.R.R Tolkien
Starring: Elijha Wood, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortenson, Ian McKellan, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, John-Rhyes Davies, Hugo Weaving, Liv Tyler, Bernard Hill, Miranda Otto, Karl Urban, John Noble, David Wenham and the voice talent and genius of Andy Serkis[/b]
Rated: PG-13
Summary:This was the final installment in one of the most sucessful trilogies of all time. 'ROTK' follows a huge cast of charcters in their final journey in saving middle earth from the dark forces of Sauron. Hobbits, Frodo Baggins (
Wood) and Samwise Gamgee (
Astin) slowly make their way to the cracks of Mount Doom with their guide (s) Smeagol/Gollum (
Serkis). While our two brave halflings face mortal and moral peril, the rest of Middle Earth looks to the wizard Gandalf the White (
McKellan) for help. Only days after the battle of Helms Deep, Gandalf calls upon King Theoden (
Hill) of Rohan to go and aide the steward of Gondor, Denether II (
Noble). Riding towards Minas Tirith with an inquisitive mischevious hobbit Pippin (
Boyd) Gandalf recieves relieving news from the stewards son, Faramir (
Wenham) that Frodo and Sam are alive. With the help of Pippin's nimble knack for climbing, Gondor's beacons are lit and Rohan prepares for war. Rallying Rohan's forces Theodens nephew and niece, Eomer (
Urban) and Eowyn (
Otto) along with the remaining fellowship Aragorn (
Mortensen), Legolas (
Bloom), Gimli (
Davies) and our last lovable hobbit Merry (
Monoghan) ride to the Dunharrow encampment. As the final battle for middle earth is on the brink, the immortal who saw it all, Lord Elrond of Rivendell (
Weaving) in a desperate attempt for his daughter Arwen's (
Tyler) happiness reforges the sword of Andruil which belongs to Aragorn- the future king. Aragorn, legolas and Gimli go on a chilling path to get more men as the rest engage in full war on the fields of Pellenor.
Release Dates: it's been out for ages....
Prices: You can buy the widescreen edition at
Amazon and the fullscreen edition
here as well.
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Now of course many people (including myself) feel dorky when you buy the theatrical DVD about six months before the extended edition comes (hereafter referred to as the ROTK:EE) alot of you don't buy it at all waiting for the ROTK:EE. But for those who just can't wait (or don't care) heres the scoop on the ROTK DVD.
DVD Art: This really has nothing to do with the actual content of the DVD- but it sure does alot in making an all-around asthetically pleasing product. As alway the cover art, CD art and menus are of the extraordinary sort earning a score of
5 *
Picture and Sound: As always the quality of the LOTR DVD's picture and sound has been above par. The sound which was available in Digital Dolby EX 5.1 and surround is clear and delivers dialogue that is audible and music that is inspiring. The picture is well picture perfect- with a smooth coloring and on camera movement that is free of blurs (except for maybe the fair Lady Eoywn's hair...er...and our dear leggy's as well). Another
5!!!
The Good Stuff:: Even though I know that the
'ROTK:EE' will be fabulous, I couldn't help but feeling a tad bit dissapointed with the theatrical editions special features. I suppose it was nice receiving the DVD a few months earlier than normal, but no
'ROTK:EE' preview? Tut, tut. There was the usual batch of lordoftherings.net Featurettes- but all of these had been on the internet for months. After those and the original trailer and TV spots along with an enjoyable LOTR supertrailer you had a special look at the EA LOTR video game series. Yet again I felt that I had already seen or read teh same information on the internet.
The special features had three 'in-depth' specials; 'The Quest Fufilled: A Director's Vision', 'A Filmmaker's journey: Making
The Return of the King' and a 'National geographic Special-
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of a King '. Once again a mondo dissapointment,while it was always enjoyable to watch something on my favorite trilogy, I found all three specials to be very repetitive often using
the exact same interviews and quotes! I am comforted though by the fact that i know we won't have the same dissapointment with 'ROTK:EE' I still have to give it a
5
Overall the DVD is rated at a **** 1/2 and the film is hands down a *****
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* All content bscores are based on a sacle of 5. 5 being 'excellant' and son and so forth. All EXCEPT the movie rating will be averaged into the total rating.
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