The most remarkable thing about Peter Jackson's films of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, besides their massive scope, is the way the New Zealand-based director churns them out.
The first film, "The Fellowship of the Ring" was released last year and is now in stores on video and DVD. The new film, "The Two Towers," will be released theatrically Wednesday.
So it's not too soon to look ahead to the film, "The Return of the King," due for release in December 2003. Screenwriter Philippa Boyens said that someone suggested that Part 2 end with the words "To be concluded," to suggest that momentous events lay ahead.
She quoted what she called "a great line from the book" about the ring bearer Frodo's companion Sam: " 'His will was set and only death would break it.' And that's the third film."
"It's all about what will happen first: death or the success of the quest," she said.
Producer Barrie M. Osborne, who has seen Jackson's rough cut of "Return of the King," said, "It's a very dramatic, emotionally moving movie, but it's also of epic scale. You come to an emotionally moving resolution in almost every character's case."
Elijah Wood, who plays Frodo, said the third film is also "the darkest."
"Ultimately, good wins, and if you read the book, you know that," Wood said. "But the beauty of Tolkien and the way the books are written is that, yes, ultimately good triumphs over evil, but at what cost? That's what's great about the third film. Our heroes have won but have also lost massive pieces of themselves and will carry those scars for the rest of their lives."
In the end, Frodo "ceases to be Frodo," Wood said.
Yet, said Jackson, the third film is also "more optimistic. It obviously has a resolution. It has a triumphant, biblical-sized kind of action. And it also has incredible sadness. It has incredible sadness. I cry in several places in the film.
"It's my favorite of the three. Frodo and Sam are just incredible in the third film. They're just so brave."
Wood said the third is "my favorite as well. These characters that you've spent all this time with and care about, they lose everything. It's heartbreaking."
- Duane Dudek