DVD Review: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Grade: B
It's probably heresy to say this, but The Return of the King is the least effective of the Lord of the Rings movies.
Yes, it nabbed 11 Oscars this year, including one for best picture and the best-director award for Peter Jackson. But you have to suspect those were cumulative honors, acknowledging the breathtaking scope and triumphant tone of Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic trilogy.
Which isn't to suggest The Return of the King is a bust. Far from it. It's filled with the same glorious production values as its predecessors, and there's no denying the compelling performances as the battle for Middle-earth heads toward its climax. What's missing is the sense of wonder that greeted the first films, the feeling they could never be topped.
The Return of the King doesn't top them. It just manages to keep pace.
In this final chapter, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) leads his army into battle one last time as the evil Sauron's mutant army marches across the landscape. Meanwhile, our Hobbit heroes Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) approach the outskirts of Mount Doom, where they plan to destroy the cursed ring of the title. That is if Gollum doesn't destroy them first. Their nasty little tour guide has gotten even nastier.
Like the previous films, King unfolds on several fronts, with all the plotlines converging in the final hour. There's the elf princess (Liv Tyler) returning to stand by her man. There's the White Wizard (Ian McKellen) brandishing his magic staff in the service of good. And there are the legions of Orcs and other vile creatures marching on the last cities ruled by man.
King suffers from too many speeches; everybody gets a soliloquy - or so it seems. What redeems the picture are the fantastic battle scenes. Fusing live action with computer special effects, Jackson has once again created a visual landscape that puts George Lucas to shame.
The DVD comes with an entire disc of extras, including a National Geographic special and six featurettes created for the Internet. We'd have much preferred director commentary to the 13 TV spots included as extras here.
One might quibble with the film's length - we could have done without 20 minutes of epilogues - but Jackson has made The Return of the King for the faithful. If you savored the intricacies and grandeur of the first two films, you'll be right at home here.
