201 min / 251 min (extended edition)

Is there any hope, Gandalf, for Frodo and Sam? -Pippin

Synopsis

Frodo and Sam have escaped Osgiliath with Gollum as their guide, but their road is a most perilous one.  Gollum has lead them directly into the darkness and to steep staircase that will lead them through the tunnel and finally into Mordor.  Sam is still un-trusting of Gollum and suspects he will betray both himself and Frodo.  With Frodo’s growing weakness his judgement becomes clouded and he begins to look to Gollum for advice.  Unfortunately, that advice may lead him to his death.

Aragorn, Gandalf and the riders of Rohan are relieved from the victory at Helms Deep, but weary.  When talk of aiding Gondor in an attack from the Orc’s of Mordor approaches it is quickly shunned by Theoden who feels slighted they weren’t supported by their allies sooner.  Gandalf decides to ride to Minas Tirith and try and persuade Denethor to set up defenses.  He takes Pippin with him, and for the first time he and Merry are separated in our story.

With Gandalf away Aragorn and Theoden begin preparations to aid Gondor, and begins recruitting all the solider’s he can.  Aragorn sees they are not enough.  Even 10,000 of them is not enough, and he begins to ask himself where else he could recruit soldiers.  It becomes clear, if he is to return to his city as King, then he must walk the path of the dead force them to fulfill their oath and aid him in battle.

Success looks impossible for everyone, and when the final battle is upon them mere survival doesn’t seem possible.  The End is hopelessly near.

Review

This final installment of the trilogy is incredibly powerful, and really evokes a compass of emotions.  There is fear, hope, love, and desperation.  Almost seven hours of story telling has brought the viewer to this point and Return Of The King does not let you down.  It has all of the elements of both The Fellowship and The Two Towers.  There is amazing character development and plot twists, but there is also one of the most overwhelming battles scenes ever onscreen. 

Weta not only needed to construct a massive attack with tens of thousands of Orc’s attacking Minas Tirith, but they also had to make the White City itself, which was an enormous undergoing.  With special effects including giant Olyphants, a towering city, the giant spider Shelob, Barad-Dur, Mount Doom, The Witch King, 10,000 Rohirrim, and a ghost army, Return Of The King was a special effects dynasty.

The friendship of Frodo and Sam is really challenged in this addition, and the realistic horror of each feeling betrayed by the other is heart wrenching.  The fear behind the deception Gollum has created really escalates, leaving the two Hobbit’s seemingly vulnerable. 

The emptiness of hopelessness is grasped so clearly in this film that it evokes real emotions.  The battle of Minas Tirith is painful and awful to watch.  It has amazing action sequences, but there are so many cuts to the actual demise of the city, and it’s people, despair is a greater emotion conveyed than the excitement of a great battle scene.  When the Rohirrim show up and the light of the sun is behind them, facing overwhelming odds, yet giving that brief feel of hope, I choke up each time I watch it.  It is one of the most powerful moments in cinema history.  That one moment captures the entire essence of the entire story and brings it to a crashing pause of reflection, fear, and hope.

Howard Shore’s score is elegant and powerful.  It really emotes the tone of the film, and makes it’s symmetry even more supreme.  It’s beauty is just as important as each of our character’s and tells it’s own story without words being said.

Cast

Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins
Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee
Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn Son Of Arathorn
Ian McKellen as Gandalf/Mithrandir
Sean Bean as Borimir
Orlando Bloom as Legolas
Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins
Christopher Lee as Saruman
Billy Boyd as Pippin
Dominic Monaghan as Merry
Bernard Hill as King Theoden
Miranda Otts as Eowyn
Brad Dourif as Grima Wormtongue
Bruce Hopkins as Gamling 
Craig Parker as Haldir
Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
John Rhys-Davies as Gimili/Treebeard
Andy Serkis as Gollum/Smeagal
Karl Urban as Eomer
David Wenham as Faramir
John Noble as Denethor 
Liv Tyler as Arwen 
Hugo Weaving as Elrond
Marton Csokas as Celeborn

The cast was phenomenal once again.  In this addition it was really the interaction between Frodo and Sam that stood out.  Both actors really sold their special relationship and the torment of the task before them.  Jokes are made about the closeness of the two, but in honesty it was perfection in chemistry and really owning their character’s.  Ian McKellan as Gandalf was just amazing.  In each film Gandalf seems to get even grumpier, but his true evolvement is very subtle, but the change there.  Only at the Grey Haven’s do you see the light and soft eyes of Gandalf the Grey that we saw in his first scene in the Shire.  It was a fantastic character adaptation, and he was very much the Gandalf I had always pictured as a child.

Ratings and Suggestions

This trilogy is some of the most amazing film making ever in the history of cinema.  A frequent question is what the best of the three is, but in truth there really isn’t one.  Each are unique to the part of the story they told, and each are portions of the journey.  The Beginning, the Middle, and the End.   Return of the King was perfect closure to the Epic tale it began nearly ten hours before, and paid Tolkien the greatest respect by making this film the way it was interpreted by Jackson, Boyens, and Walsh.  They were not just writers, they were the greatest of fans visually realizing one of the greatest stories ever told.  As Gandalf said, 

 So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide.  All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. 

Return of the King is perfection.  Four out of Four Stars.  FRODO LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated PG-13 for epic battle sequences and scary images.

179 min Theatrical / 223 min Extended Edition

He wants the precious. Always he is looking for it. And the precious is wanting to go back to him… But we mustn’t let him have it. -Gollum

Synopsis

The Two Towers picks up right where The Fellowship left off; Gandalf and Boromir having died, Merry and Pippin taken by the Urk-hai with Aragorn, Gimili, and Legolas in pursuit, and with Frodo and Sam making their way to the darkness of Mordor together.  Where the previous film had a continuity that followed Frodo and the Ring, this film splits into three tales with some new additions to the cast.  Frodo and Sam are being pursued by a vile creature that is known only as Gollum.  He was once the keeper of the Ring until Bilbo won it from him years ago.  Though Gollum had lost the Ring he still had a connection to it and had been following the Fellowship since they entered Moria.  Now, with the two Hobbits alone, he has his chance to take it back. 

Merry and Pippin escape when a bounty of Rohirrim riders attack their captors, the Urk-hai and Orcs. In a desperate attempt to flee, they slip into Fangorn forrest, only to meet a strange creature that goes by the name of Treebeard.  He is an Ent, a tree that thinks, breathes, and speaks.  He vows to take care of Merry and Pippin who are attempting to pursuade Treebeard and the other Ents to join the war and help save their friends, but Treebeard’s timeline is a little less pressing than the two Hobbits.

In pursuit of the two other Hobbits, the trio of Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimili run into their own adventure.  Gandalf is alive and resurrected into an even greater yet colder Wizard.  He is now Gandalf the White.  He leads the trio to the Gap of Rohan and the great city of Edoras, where King Theoden has been under the spell and influence of Saruman and the traitor Grima Wormtongue.  Gandalf knows Saruman is ready to launch an attack on Edoras and all the people of Rohan.  Gandalf releases King Theoden from his spell and the people of Rohan flee to Helms Deep to face a battle that is overwhelming in the favor of the enemy.  It may be the end for mankind.

Review

The Two Towers has a very different feel to it than the Fellowship which focused around developing character’s, relationships, and plotlines.  The Two Towers was essentially the action climax that never fully happened in the Fellowship.  With new character’s entering our already complicated story and with the plot diverting into three different directions it seems like a lot to digest, but it moves so quickly the viewer moves on to the next event without having time to reflect on what happened.  When the film ends it feels like half the length of it’s predecessor, yet it is the same length.  This middle portion of the epic tale is more entertainment based than story or plot building which felt necessary after the Fellowship.

This film is just as extraordinary to look at as the first, but on a much larger scale.  Enormous landscapes and battle sequences take this movie to the next level of special effects and visuals.  While the art is still inspired by Alan Lee’s work, there is an added vastness to this films physical boundries.  With the character’s spred all across Middle Earth this film feels much larger and much more hopeless.

The battle of Helm’s Deep is one of the most intense and technically challenging battle scenes ever on film.  The degree of emotoinal points countered with some of the most hardcore action sequences to date makes this forty-five minute battle go by quickly, but at the same time tortuously slow.  The time it takes for Dawn to come and the circumstances it takes to get there is entirely authentic.  By the time this film is over a feeling of complete mental exhaustion will sesttle over you.

Cast

• Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins
• Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee
• Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn Son Of Arathorn
• Ian McKellen as Gandalf/Mithrandir
• Sean Bean as Borimir
• Orlando Bloom as Legolas
• Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins
• Christopher Lee as Saruman
• Billy Boyd as Pippin
• Dominic Monaghan as Merry
• Bernard Hill as King Theoden
• Miranda Otts as Eowyn
• Brad Dourif as Grima Wormtongue
• Bruce Hopkins as Gamling 
• Craig Parker as Haldir
• Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
• John Rhys-Davies as Gimili/Treebeard
• Andy Serkis as Gollum/Smeagal
• Karl Urban as Eomer
• David Wenham as Faramir
• John Noble as Denethor 
• Liv Tyler as Arwen 
• Hugo Weaving as Elrond
• Marton Csokas as Celeborn

The additional character’s in this story really shook things up.  Miranda Otts as Eowyn creating the conflict of interest with Aragorn and Arwen was a beautiful personal conflict.  It really makes her interact with the rest of the cast, and while you may be screaming “homewrecker” at her, who could deny her affection for Aragorn?  Any woman in their right mind would, and that makes her role even more realistic besides the fact that she played it brilliantly.  Bernard Hill as King Theoden is one of my favorite fictional character’s ever.  The tortured and conflicted, yet strong man was interpreted so well by Hill.  He was not just a pawn in the story, but one of the most astounding performances ever.  His subtle way of exploiting his own self doubt and inner conflict without detracting from the story is pure genuis in the acting category.  Also along for the ride was the most amazing CGI character ever evolved: Gollum/Smeagal.  Never before has a computer generated character come across the screen as so three dimensional.  There is never a moment where you ask yourself if Gollum is CGI because he is so realistic.  Played by Andy Serkis, this interpretation of a character that is so twisted and demented would be difficult to pull off by your most talented actor, and yet combined with technology and the amazing voice over and physicality of Andy Serkis; Gollum becomes one of the greatest good/evil character’s of all time.

Ratings and Suggestions

By the end of this film you are either completely hooked and enthralled by this trilogy or you plain and simply can’t stand it.  It’s also rated PG-13 though is a bit more violent and even it’s implications more absolute than the Fellowship.  In each Lord Of The Rings movie you will get at least one hardcore decapitation from Aragorn.  Peter Jackson must have just liked the idea of Viggo offing with peoples heads.  By this time these character’s are no longer just entertaining vessels telling a story onscreen, they are in your heart and mind and you really care about what happens to all of them, which is what makes Return Of The King so powerful.  Our heroes have in one way or another touched us in some very real or profound way, and that is the essence of an amazing story.  The Two Towers was the deciding factor and the result was my heart stolen by one of the greatest stories ever told.  Four out of Four stars.

Alcune testimonianze scritte di una grande campagna di Merp dei primi anni '90, un'avventura che é andata avanti per anni grazie all'impegno e alla visione di Master Cionko. Un tavolo nero devastato dalle incisioni, un sedia rialzata per l'inopinabile arbitro, una di vimini per il nano piú testardo della storia delle Terre di Mezzo (ed il Numenoreano piú cafone!), il gavano del té (o carravano, a seconda delle serate), le bottiglie di sacra Whurer (Ribongen Beer), la macchinetta da 12 de caffé (indispensabile a certe ore), lo screen-master grigio fatto in casa con la scritta "MERP" dorata, le schede buttate lá ad impregnarsi di tabacco e di birra, lo stereo portatile e le sue sinfonie medioevali e naturalmente tante pietruzze sfaccettate che dettavano il destino dei nostri personaggi.

Clikka sull'immagine sopra per ingrandire: LA CHIAMATA DI GAMBA D'ARGENTO

LAI DI LEITHIAN

LETTERA DI BIANCA BETULLA

LETTERA DI BIANCA BETULLA

LETTERA DI EOMER

L'ULTIMO CANTO DELL'ELFO SCURO

Middle Earth – represents our battle within. We are all fighting for what we believe, good or evil. Trying to make the world a better place.

Gollum – represents the two sides of our battle within, Smeagol, the good side &; Gollum, the bad side. Some of us may be torn as to who is right & who is wrong or which side to chose. J.R.R. Tolkien shows this battle raging in all of us perfectly with Gollum/Smeagol and his fight to be freed of the power of the ring & his need to have the ring.

Men – represent the men of the world. They are seen as the superior & more dominant. Some are power hungry and all are always trying to be the better man; yet they too have their weaknesses and are easily tempted, as seen in Isiadur, Boromir & the Nazgul. When they all gave in to the power of the Ring. Although some are strong and can hold true if they chose the right path, as seen in Aragorn. Some are afraid to admit who they are; as seen in Aragorn as Strider & Faramir. Others will fight for what the believe in even though they are banished, as in Eomer.

Hobbits – represent the women of the world. They seen as the weaker & more submissive; but they are a lot stronger then given credit for. More in tune with nature & the prettier things in life. Some however can become power hungry as seen in the Sackville Bagginses. Most are strong at heart as seen in Frodo & always see the light at the end of the tunnel as seen in Sam. Some take longer to find their strength & courage as seen in Merry & Pippin. They like adventures & always are on the go as seen in Bilbo. They like to have a good time in everything they do.

Elves – represent the good in all of us, fighting to prevail in our battle within. Elves are said to have stars in their hair & eyes, I think that this is our inner light, our good side shining through all of us. Like when we get married, find out we are having a baby, or are just in a good mood & we are "glowing".

Orcs- represent the evil in us all, fighting to prevail in our battle within. Orcs are ugly & nasty. Kinda like we are if we are in a bad mood & don't want to be bothered we lash out at those around us. Wanting to hurt anyone we can because we are hurting.

Dwarves–represent the greed & anger in us all. Also the willingness to forgive & forget, as seen with Gimili. He hates the elves at first but learns to forgive them because of his friendship with Legolas & his admiration of Galadriel.

Sauron–represents the devil. He resides in the fiery pits of Mordor (Hell). There is a stench that could kill a man, the smell of burning flesh; that would be associated with Hell.

The Nazgul – represent the devils minions. They are controlled by the power of the Ring & they can always sense it. They will do whatever the Sauron tells them to do because he controls the ring.

Galadriel – represents God. She is the most Beautiful of all the elves, although some may disagree & say that Arwen is. Galadriel is clothed all in white and resides in Lothorien (Heaven), the oldest & most beautiful home of the elves. She is also the oldest of all the elves in Middle Earth, being the daughter of Finarfin & sister of Finrod Felagund. She remained in Middle Earth after the end of the First Age.