Title: "The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King"
Director: Peter Jackson
Producer: Fran Walsh, Barrie M. Osborne, and Peter Jackson
Editing:
Composer: Howard Shore
Starring:
- Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins
- Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf the White
- Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee
- Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn
- Liv Tyler as Arwen
- Andy Serkis as Gollum/Smeagol (Serkis gave a voice and physical reference for the character)
- Hugo Weaving as Elrond
- Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
- John Rhys-Davies as Gimli
- Billy Boyd as Peregrin Took
- Dominic Monaghan as Meriadoc Brandybuck
- Orlando Bloom as Legolas
If you've not seen the first two Lord Of The Rings films it may be helpful to visit the following websites:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings:_The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring_(film)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings:_The_Two_Towers_(film)
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx3Tx7sgTss
Plot and Critical Review: The film begins with a flashback of how Sméagol acquired the One Ring, before his degeneration and name change to 'Gollum', taking Frodo and Sam to Minas Morgul. Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, Théoden and Éomer meet up with Merry, Pippin and Treebeard at Isengard, now under the Ents' control, and Gandalf deduces that Saruman will pose no further threat. They also recover the palantír. Pippin's curiosity gets the better of him at Edoras, and he looks into it. The vision he sees (of a dead white tree in a burning stone courtyard) alerts Gandalf that Sauron is planning to attack Minas Tirith, and he rides off there with Pippin. In Rivendell, on her way to the Undying Lands, Arwen has a vision of her son by Aragorn and convinces Elrond to reforge Narsil, the sword that cut the Ring from Sauron's finger long ago. She then forsakes the gift of immortality to be with Aragorn; her fate now rests with the outcome of the war.
Gandalf and Pippin arrive at Minas Tirith to find the steward Denethor mourning over Boromir, and Pippin swears loyalty to him in recompense for Boromir's sacrifice. Meanwhile, the Witch-king dispatches his immense Orc army from Minas Morgul, heralding the start of the war, as Frodo, Sam, and Gollum begin climbing the stairs nearby. The Morgul army drives the Gondorians out of Osgiliath, and Faramir is forced to take a doomed ride to reclaim the city. Near Minas Morgul, Gollum convinces Frodo to send Sam home in the belief that he wants the Ring. At the urging of Gandalf, Pippin lights the first of the beacon signals to Edoras, alerting Théoden and the rest of the Rohirrim and prompting them to ride to Dunharrow to prepare for war. While preparing for battle in Dunharrow, Aragorn meets Elrond, who presents the future king with the newly reforged sword Andúril. Aragorn then sets off with Legolas and Gimli to brave the Paths of the Dead, enlisting the help of the cursed Army of the Dead in capturing the ships of the Corsairs of Umbar (Sauron was planning to use the corsairs to launch a surprise attack on Minas Tirith while the defenders were preoccupied with the Orcs). Théoden rides off to war with six thousand riders, unaware that Éowyn and Merry are also part of the army.
The Morgul forces, composed mostly of Orcs, begin the siege of Minas Tirith, and many missiles are traded, while the Witch-king and the other Ringwraiths on their Fell Beasts also attack, destroying siege weapons and sowing terror among the defenders. The Morgul army break into the city using the enormous battering ram Grond. At the same time, Gollum betrays Frodo to the large spider Shelob, but Sam returns to fight her off. Sam believes Frodo is dead and takes the Ring from him, but when Orcs from the Tower of Cirith Ungol take Frodo, Sam overhears that he is still alive. At Minas Tirith, Denethor has gone mad and prepares a funeral pyre for himself and the unconscious Faramir. Gandalf and Pippin arrive on the scene and manage to save Faramir, but despite Gandalf's best efforts, Denethor dies. The Rohirrim arrive and charge into the Orcs, but the Witch-king responds with a counter-attack, attempting to rout the Rohirrim with the forces of Harad, including the immense Mûmakil. The Witch-king descends on Théoden, fatally wounding him. Aragorn finally arrives with the undead on the captured Corsair ships and proceeds to annihilate the Orcs and Mûmakil, while Éowyn and Merry kill the Witch-king. Théoden dies of his wounds, and Aragorn holds the Dead Army's oath fulfilled, releasing them from their curse at last.
Sam rescues Frodo from Cirith Ungol, which is mostly empty following a fight between the two factions of the Tower's Orc garrison over the mithril shirt, and they begin the long trek across Mordor to Mount Doom. Gandalf realizes that ten thousand Orcs stand between Cirith Ungol and Mount Doom, which will prevent Frodo from reaching his destination. Aragorn proposes they lead the remaining soldiers to the Black Gate to draw the Orcs away from Frodo's path. Sam carries Frodo up to Mount Doom, but Gollum arrives and attacks them, just as the Men of the West furiously battle the Orcs. At the Crack of Doom, Frodo, instead of dropping the ring into the lava, succumbs to its power and puts it on, disappearing from sight (the act alerts Sauron, and sends the Ringwraiths racing towards Mount Doom). Gollum renders Sam unconscious, seizes Frodo's finger, and bites it off. As he begins to celebrate reclaiming the ring, Frodo gathers his strength (and his senses) and charges at him. After a brief struggle, they both fall over the edge. Gollum falls into the lava flow with the Ring, while Frodo hangs onto the edge of the cliff. Sam rescues Frodo as the Ring finally sinks into the lava and is destroyed. The Tower of Barad-dûr collapses, Sauron's essence fades and then explodes, destroying him for good, and the Orcs, Ringwraiths and the remaining forces of Sauron are killed in the ensuing shockwave and earthquakes. Frodo and Sam are stranded as Mount Doom destructively erupts, until Gandalf arrives with the Eagles, and they awake in Minas Tirith, reuniting with their friends.
Aragorn is crowned King, heralding the new age of peace, and is reunited with Arwen. The hobbits return to the Shire, where Sam marries Rosie Cotton. Frodo, having finished writing the story of the Lord of the Rings and still exhausted from his quest as the Ring-bearer, decides to leave Middle-earth with Gandalf, Bilbo, Elrond and Galadriel at the Grey Havens, leaving his account of the story to Sam, who peacefully continues his family life.
"Return of the King" is one of the most successful films of all times. It was decorated with 11 Academy Awards which ties it for having recieved the most awards with "Ben Hur" and "Titanic". Some believe that the Academy held back as long as possible before decorating any of the "Lord of the Rings" films with anything but technical awards. They could not hold back their jubilation any longer, it seems. This is no small thing. "Return of the King" was also the first fantasy film to recieve the Oscar for Best Picture. To date it is the second highest grossing film of all time second only to "Titanic".
There is no way to justly state how important this film is within the context of a film review. Because of Peter Jackson's bold vision and his even bolder attempt to make three world-class films at the same time, the way motion pictures are produced will be forever changed. Jackson is looking forward to co-directing and co-producing a film trilogy with Steven Spielberg (can you imagine?!) retelling "The Adventures of Tintin." Let us keep a weather eye for that cinematic spectacle.
My Rating: 9.5/10
The "Reel Revelation": "...Beauty That No Shadow Can Touch..."
What is the most beautiful thing you've ever experienced? To clarify, of all the things you've ever touched, heard, tasted, etc., what would you define as the most beautiful of them all? No doubt each of you would give a different answer to this entirely situational question. A painter, for example, might say that a single brushstroke of blue on an otherwise undefiled white canvas is the most beautiful of all things. To a musician a phrase of Mozart or Chopin might very well take the cake. For a baker...a cake! You can see how this could go on and on. While all of these things are no doubt beautiful to those who cherish them they can all be defeated, overturned, and altogether ruined. Canvases can be burned, music can be silenced, and cakes eaten. Where can we find beauty, then, that cannot be undone so easily? Where is the beauty that, as Samwise so tenderly defined, no shadow can touch?
If we look to the Earth, to begin with, we may find ourselves satisfied but ultimately disappointed. The forests are disappearing, you know, and the rivers are becoming polluted as a result of our waste and excess. The fields are being tilled and planted with crops while the oceans in all their beauty are under constantly assault from human threats. (That's as enviromental as i'll ever get, I promise.) While much of the natural beauty we observe will last long after we pass from this mortal realm it too can be defiled by the greed of mankind and the destructive powers of nature itself. The Psalmist proclaimed the beauty and grandeur of God as being like the beauty of the Earth, not the Earth "her"self.
What of the "immortal" and "everlasting" beauties we find in the arts? Music will last forever, won't it? People will always write, paint, sculpt, weave, and carve, won't they? Indeed, they will. But the beauty of their creations (and the beauty of the arts in general) will fade with time. Even now we only uplift the "greatest hits" of the music of the past and only regard the finest pieces of art as being "masterpieces". In time even the most glorious songs and paintings and sculptures and tapestries of this age will pass away. So where then will we find "beauty that no shadow can touch"? We must look to what will not fade. We must look to what will last forever.
God's Word will last forever. Regardless of how it is uplifted and praised or persecuted and denied it will never cease. God established a covenant with Noah, for example, and plaecd a rainbow in the sky to declare that God would keep his word and never send a flood to destroy the Earth again. This is an everlasting promise, and God sealed it with the beautiful rainbow. Rainbows come and go but God's Word will always declare God's favor for us and toward us.
Jesus will last forever. Along with God, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, he completes the eternal and everlasting Trinity. Jesus was the "express image" through which all things were created. Jesus is the beauty in all things that are beautiful. Perhaps you've heard the saying "All truth is God's truth"? How about "All beauty is in Jesus, through Jesus, and with Jesus." When all the things we consider beautiful today are gone tomorrow, what will be left of them but the express beauty of God which made them beautiful in the first place? Even as we learn to love one another we must first learn to find and have fellowship with the presence of God in the people around us; we fall in love with what is the most beautiful in the people we know. While we come to love and cherish the personalities, talents, opinions, and abilities of our friends and family we must first Christ through those we know. As was stated in the novel (and later play and film) "Les Miserables," "to love another person is to see the face of God." There it is.
In God alone will we find beauty that no "shadow" can touch, a beauty that cannot be defiled or destroyed by the sinful nature of this world. Were such beauty left in our hands we would have no doubt ruined its magnificence by now as it is the way of the greed of man to take what is most beautiful, call it his own, and parade it as if it were a prize. The dazzling brilliance of the beauty of God is for all people and it is without price or compromise. Enjoy it, but do not merely enjoy the expression of God's beauty, enjoy the Beautiful One himself and give your thanks to God.
See you tomorrow - E.T.
Director: Peter Jackson
Producer: Fran Walsh, Barrie M. Osborne, and Peter Jackson
Editing:
Composer: Howard Shore
Starring:
- Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins
- Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf the White
- Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee
- Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn
- Liv Tyler as Arwen
- Andy Serkis as Gollum/Smeagol (Serkis gave a voice and physical reference for the character)
- Hugo Weaving as Elrond
- Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
- John Rhys-Davies as Gimli
- Billy Boyd as Peregrin Took
- Dominic Monaghan as Meriadoc Brandybuck
- Orlando Bloom as Legolas
If you've not seen the first two Lord Of The Rings films it may be helpful to visit the following websites:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings:_The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring_(film)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings:_The_Two_Towers_(film)
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx3Tx7sgTss
Plot and Critical Review: The film begins with a flashback of how Sméagol acquired the One Ring, before his degeneration and name change to 'Gollum', taking Frodo and Sam to Minas Morgul. Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, Théoden and Éomer meet up with Merry, Pippin and Treebeard at Isengard, now under the Ents' control, and Gandalf deduces that Saruman will pose no further threat. They also recover the palantír. Pippin's curiosity gets the better of him at Edoras, and he looks into it. The vision he sees (of a dead white tree in a burning stone courtyard) alerts Gandalf that Sauron is planning to attack Minas Tirith, and he rides off there with Pippin. In Rivendell, on her way to the Undying Lands, Arwen has a vision of her son by Aragorn and convinces Elrond to reforge Narsil, the sword that cut the Ring from Sauron's finger long ago. She then forsakes the gift of immortality to be with Aragorn; her fate now rests with the outcome of the war.
Gandalf and Pippin arrive at Minas Tirith to find the steward Denethor mourning over Boromir, and Pippin swears loyalty to him in recompense for Boromir's sacrifice. Meanwhile, the Witch-king dispatches his immense Orc army from Minas Morgul, heralding the start of the war, as Frodo, Sam, and Gollum begin climbing the stairs nearby. The Morgul army drives the Gondorians out of Osgiliath, and Faramir is forced to take a doomed ride to reclaim the city. Near Minas Morgul, Gollum convinces Frodo to send Sam home in the belief that he wants the Ring. At the urging of Gandalf, Pippin lights the first of the beacon signals to Edoras, alerting Théoden and the rest of the Rohirrim and prompting them to ride to Dunharrow to prepare for war. While preparing for battle in Dunharrow, Aragorn meets Elrond, who presents the future king with the newly reforged sword Andúril. Aragorn then sets off with Legolas and Gimli to brave the Paths of the Dead, enlisting the help of the cursed Army of the Dead in capturing the ships of the Corsairs of Umbar (Sauron was planning to use the corsairs to launch a surprise attack on Minas Tirith while the defenders were preoccupied with the Orcs). Théoden rides off to war with six thousand riders, unaware that Éowyn and Merry are also part of the army.
The Morgul forces, composed mostly of Orcs, begin the siege of Minas Tirith, and many missiles are traded, while the Witch-king and the other Ringwraiths on their Fell Beasts also attack, destroying siege weapons and sowing terror among the defenders. The Morgul army break into the city using the enormous battering ram Grond. At the same time, Gollum betrays Frodo to the large spider Shelob, but Sam returns to fight her off. Sam believes Frodo is dead and takes the Ring from him, but when Orcs from the Tower of Cirith Ungol take Frodo, Sam overhears that he is still alive. At Minas Tirith, Denethor has gone mad and prepares a funeral pyre for himself and the unconscious Faramir. Gandalf and Pippin arrive on the scene and manage to save Faramir, but despite Gandalf's best efforts, Denethor dies. The Rohirrim arrive and charge into the Orcs, but the Witch-king responds with a counter-attack, attempting to rout the Rohirrim with the forces of Harad, including the immense Mûmakil. The Witch-king descends on Théoden, fatally wounding him. Aragorn finally arrives with the undead on the captured Corsair ships and proceeds to annihilate the Orcs and Mûmakil, while Éowyn and Merry kill the Witch-king. Théoden dies of his wounds, and Aragorn holds the Dead Army's oath fulfilled, releasing them from their curse at last.
Sam rescues Frodo from Cirith Ungol, which is mostly empty following a fight between the two factions of the Tower's Orc garrison over the mithril shirt, and they begin the long trek across Mordor to Mount Doom. Gandalf realizes that ten thousand Orcs stand between Cirith Ungol and Mount Doom, which will prevent Frodo from reaching his destination. Aragorn proposes they lead the remaining soldiers to the Black Gate to draw the Orcs away from Frodo's path. Sam carries Frodo up to Mount Doom, but Gollum arrives and attacks them, just as the Men of the West furiously battle the Orcs. At the Crack of Doom, Frodo, instead of dropping the ring into the lava, succumbs to its power and puts it on, disappearing from sight (the act alerts Sauron, and sends the Ringwraiths racing towards Mount Doom). Gollum renders Sam unconscious, seizes Frodo's finger, and bites it off. As he begins to celebrate reclaiming the ring, Frodo gathers his strength (and his senses) and charges at him. After a brief struggle, they both fall over the edge. Gollum falls into the lava flow with the Ring, while Frodo hangs onto the edge of the cliff. Sam rescues Frodo as the Ring finally sinks into the lava and is destroyed. The Tower of Barad-dûr collapses, Sauron's essence fades and then explodes, destroying him for good, and the Orcs, Ringwraiths and the remaining forces of Sauron are killed in the ensuing shockwave and earthquakes. Frodo and Sam are stranded as Mount Doom destructively erupts, until Gandalf arrives with the Eagles, and they awake in Minas Tirith, reuniting with their friends.
Aragorn is crowned King, heralding the new age of peace, and is reunited with Arwen. The hobbits return to the Shire, where Sam marries Rosie Cotton. Frodo, having finished writing the story of the Lord of the Rings and still exhausted from his quest as the Ring-bearer, decides to leave Middle-earth with Gandalf, Bilbo, Elrond and Galadriel at the Grey Havens, leaving his account of the story to Sam, who peacefully continues his family life.
"Return of the King" is one of the most successful films of all times. It was decorated with 11 Academy Awards which ties it for having recieved the most awards with "Ben Hur" and "Titanic". Some believe that the Academy held back as long as possible before decorating any of the "Lord of the Rings" films with anything but technical awards. They could not hold back their jubilation any longer, it seems. This is no small thing. "Return of the King" was also the first fantasy film to recieve the Oscar for Best Picture. To date it is the second highest grossing film of all time second only to "Titanic".
There is no way to justly state how important this film is within the context of a film review. Because of Peter Jackson's bold vision and his even bolder attempt to make three world-class films at the same time, the way motion pictures are produced will be forever changed. Jackson is looking forward to co-directing and co-producing a film trilogy with Steven Spielberg (can you imagine?!) retelling "The Adventures of Tintin." Let us keep a weather eye for that cinematic spectacle.
My Rating: 9.5/10
The "Reel Revelation": "...Beauty That No Shadow Can Touch..."
What is the most beautiful thing you've ever experienced? To clarify, of all the things you've ever touched, heard, tasted, etc., what would you define as the most beautiful of them all? No doubt each of you would give a different answer to this entirely situational question. A painter, for example, might say that a single brushstroke of blue on an otherwise undefiled white canvas is the most beautiful of all things. To a musician a phrase of Mozart or Chopin might very well take the cake. For a baker...a cake! You can see how this could go on and on. While all of these things are no doubt beautiful to those who cherish them they can all be defeated, overturned, and altogether ruined. Canvases can be burned, music can be silenced, and cakes eaten. Where can we find beauty, then, that cannot be undone so easily? Where is the beauty that, as Samwise so tenderly defined, no shadow can touch?
If we look to the Earth, to begin with, we may find ourselves satisfied but ultimately disappointed. The forests are disappearing, you know, and the rivers are becoming polluted as a result of our waste and excess. The fields are being tilled and planted with crops while the oceans in all their beauty are under constantly assault from human threats. (That's as enviromental as i'll ever get, I promise.) While much of the natural beauty we observe will last long after we pass from this mortal realm it too can be defiled by the greed of mankind and the destructive powers of nature itself. The Psalmist proclaimed the beauty and grandeur of God as being like the beauty of the Earth, not the Earth "her"self.
What of the "immortal" and "everlasting" beauties we find in the arts? Music will last forever, won't it? People will always write, paint, sculpt, weave, and carve, won't they? Indeed, they will. But the beauty of their creations (and the beauty of the arts in general) will fade with time. Even now we only uplift the "greatest hits" of the music of the past and only regard the finest pieces of art as being "masterpieces". In time even the most glorious songs and paintings and sculptures and tapestries of this age will pass away. So where then will we find "beauty that no shadow can touch"? We must look to what will not fade. We must look to what will last forever.
God's Word will last forever. Regardless of how it is uplifted and praised or persecuted and denied it will never cease. God established a covenant with Noah, for example, and plaecd a rainbow in the sky to declare that God would keep his word and never send a flood to destroy the Earth again. This is an everlasting promise, and God sealed it with the beautiful rainbow. Rainbows come and go but God's Word will always declare God's favor for us and toward us.
Jesus will last forever. Along with God, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, he completes the eternal and everlasting Trinity. Jesus was the "express image" through which all things were created. Jesus is the beauty in all things that are beautiful. Perhaps you've heard the saying "All truth is God's truth"? How about "All beauty is in Jesus, through Jesus, and with Jesus." When all the things we consider beautiful today are gone tomorrow, what will be left of them but the express beauty of God which made them beautiful in the first place? Even as we learn to love one another we must first learn to find and have fellowship with the presence of God in the people around us; we fall in love with what is the most beautiful in the people we know. While we come to love and cherish the personalities, talents, opinions, and abilities of our friends and family we must first Christ through those we know. As was stated in the novel (and later play and film) "Les Miserables," "to love another person is to see the face of God." There it is.
In God alone will we find beauty that no "shadow" can touch, a beauty that cannot be defiled or destroyed by the sinful nature of this world. Were such beauty left in our hands we would have no doubt ruined its magnificence by now as it is the way of the greed of man to take what is most beautiful, call it his own, and parade it as if it were a prize. The dazzling brilliance of the beauty of God is for all people and it is without price or compromise. Enjoy it, but do not merely enjoy the expression of God's beauty, enjoy the Beautiful One himself and give your thanks to God.
See you tomorrow - E.T.
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