Return of the King 2003
I finally got around to seeing this one and I can see why it gets a lot of acclaim. The fact that there have already been 2 3-1/2 hour prequels gives this movie depth that most movies can’t hope to work up. The visual effects are (mostly) just completely amazing though the CGI isn’t exactly seamless (one scene with a crowd on top of Minas Tirith looked obviously faked; how hard would it have been to use a real crowd of people?). Gollum can look cartoonish or incredibly realistic.
They obviously spent a lot of money on the movie and the big battle scenes are impressive. Having the thousands of horses (hundreds of which must have been real) charging into battle is a neat thing to see. The costumes, especially the battle armor, are very impressive. Having all those elements is what makes this an easy pick at Oscar time for best picture.
The story is very solid. While much of the plot involves Frodo, Sam, and Gollum working their way to Mordor, the better story is that of Aragorn. Here he makes the transition from ranger to king. While not actively seeking power, he is able to make use of it wisely. He’s a king who earns it.
One complaint is the movie is generally pretty sappy. Sam and Frodo are primary offenders, constantly speaking of the burden and the difficulty and how they will stick together. But Aragorn and his elfin princess are similar. They never seem to have just a regular moment together. The elf and the dwarf are ridiculously all-powerful. People get wiped out all the time and they remain unscratched while they each kill hundreds of the enemy (albeit impressively at times).
Gandalf seems uneven: sometimes incredibly powerful, sometimes very mortal. In the books he was the same way though.
Even though the movie isn’t real tightly wound and is overly sentimental, I still have to give it an A for impressiveness and the way Jackson was able to put together three huge movies without skimping.
Owned on: Blu-ray, Digital