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TIME.com: Seven Holiday Treats -- Dec. 15, 2003

A R T S / M O V I E S
Seven Holiday Treats
Well, some are precious gifts; some are lumps of coal. A couple are epic in scope; others are microscopic. A few have their eyes on the Oscar prize; the rest will be happy to entertain you and siphon off your shopping budget between now and the New Year
By

Monday, Dec. 15, 2003
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
Directed by Peter Jackson
Starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen

Well, it's back. The film event of the millennium — three superb films re-creating J.R.R. Tolkien's epic series of novels — reaches its climax with The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. For the third December in a row, the year is capped with a robust cinematic retelling of the war of Middle-earth, as the hobbit Frodo (Wood) and his fellowship of humans, elves, dwarfs and the wizard Gandalf (McKellen) surge into battle against the dark power of Mordor's Lord Sauron.

The king in the story is the hunky human warrior Aragorn (Mortensen). But Jackson is the true lord of these Rings. The New Zealand auteur spent seven years on the trilogy, collaborating on the scripts with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. He chose and directed this perfect cast, orchestrated the smashing visual effects — Tolkien's bestiary on the march in fantastical realms. In Return, the giant trolls, four-tusked elephants and flying, screeching serpents of Mordor will amaze adults and may startle small children. The spider monster Shelob, creeping up on Frodo and mummifying him in a silken straitjacket, offers a delicious horror-movie frisson.

Viewers don't play this movie like a video game. They are seduced to live inside it. In one brilliant visualization, the hobbit Pippin (Billy Boyd) manages to light a bonfire at the top of Gondor to alert his distant comrades to a military victory. On a far hill, a second fire is lit, its flame echoed on farther mountaintops, on and on into the dawn. At last, it's wartime.

The Ring films, like Master and Commander, celebrate old-fashioned martial virtues: honor, duty, comradeship, sacrifice — soldiering on, under an immense, sapping burden. Though the trilogy percolates with bracing adventure, it is a testament to the long slog of any war. Pain streaks the faces of the film's stalwart warriors. They know the enormity of their foe and know that the child hobbit who bears the Ring is far from them — surely in peril, perhaps lost forever. At one point Aragorn asks Gandalf, "What does your heart tell you?" and in a little movie epiphany, the wizard's face briefly warms, brightens, and he says, "That Frodo is alive."

The boldly choreographed battles are really a diversion from the story's great drama: three little people — Frodo, his companion Sam (Sean Astin) and the ex-hobbit Gollum (Andy Serkis and a lot of CGI geniuses) on their way to Mount Doom with a mission to destroy the Ring. Cringing and crafty, Gollum is the rebellious servant, subverting Sam's selfless impulses, trying to twist allegiance of the pallid, ailing Frodo away from his friend. (So poignant are Gollum's turbid emotions, and so persuasively is this computer critter integrated with the live performers, that he deserves a special acting Oscar for Best ... Thing.) The devotion of Sam is inspiring. His plea to Frodo--"Don't go where I can't follow!"--makes him the film's real hero.

At 3 hr. 20 min., The Return of the King occasionally slows to a trot. There's a long middle passage where half a dozen characters in turn muse and fret at length. After the climax there's a plethora of meetings and farewells, most of them extended versions of the goodbyes in The Wizard of Oz. But Jackson is entitled. He surely felt that he and his companions of the Ring had waged their own hard, heroic battle and that sentimental adieus were earned.

They are, too. The second half of the film elevates all the story elements to Beethovenian crescendo. Here is an epic with literature's depth and opera's splendor — and one that could be achieved only in movies. What could be more terrific?

This: in some theaters, the Ring trilogy will be shown back to back to back. What a 9-hr. 17-min. trip — three huge installments, one supreme enthrallment. Ecstasy trumps exhaustion in the reliving of a great human quest, a cinematic triumph. --By Richard Corliss

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  Movie Reviews

Lord Of The Rings. - New Line

Return Of The King Review

08/12/2003 03:24 PM
Matt Bostwick

If Best Picture Oscars were awarded purely for the battle scenes, Peter Jackson's final instalment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Return of the King, would be a shoe-in.

But the fact that Oscar gongs are awarded on a slightly broader range of cinematic competencies than battle scene depiction shouldn't worry Jackson and his backers at New Line Cinema.

 Audio and Video

Elijah Wood on filming Lord of the Rings - 08/12/2003 10:35 AM - Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins) talks to New Zealand journalists about his role in the third and final instalment of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy.

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If ever a movie deserved to have members of the Academy break the mould (no fantasy film has ever been awarded Best Picture), this is it.

Regardless of what happens at the Oscars (although all agree it would be nice to see Jackson take home Best Director or Best Picture) this film will be remembered as one of the best ever, for so many reasons.

Firstly, it is quite possibly the most visually stunning piece of celluloid to ever hit a cinema screen. The Battle of Pelennor fields will simply dumbfound you. No kidding.

 Audio and Video

Ian McKellen on filming LOTR - 08/12/2003 10:35 AM - Ian McKellen (Gandalf) talks to New Zealand journalists about the experience of filming "Lord of the Rings" for Peter Jackson - ann experience he says which went on far longer than he expected.

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Imagine thousands of Rohan horsemen galloping at pace into hordes of waiting Orcs. Imaging that you can see, hear and feel every bone-crushing moment of impact from a vantage point somewhere plum in the middle of it. Then imagine that it's just the beginning.

The giant elephant-like Mumakil, sweeping aside everything in their path with mammoth forklift tusks and crushing any leftovers with their enormous kauri trunk legs, are an absolute piece of Weta Digital genius. So too is the scene where Legolas attempts to bring one down, single-handed.

As amazing as the battle scenes are in Return of the King, it's the sheer depth of thoughtful film artistry that makes this movie so good. One question asked of all the actors at the pre-premiere media day was how Jackson manages to get such good performances from his cast.

 Audio and Video

Jackson's Lord of the Rings challenge - 08/12/2003 10:35 AM - Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson tells Newstalk ZB's Katie Duncan that making the trilogy was every bit as difficult as everyone told him it would be.

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Most agreed it's because he's simply one of the finest directors around. He quietly expects and gets the most out of everyone he works with, and gives them the opportunity to extend themselves. One great example is the stirring pre-battle gee-up King Theoden of Rohan (Bernard Hill) gives the troops before the Battle of Pelennor fields. With lances outstretched, the king rides down the line of Rohan horsemen, sword held high, touching every spear as he gallops along.

Sounds simple, but it's one of the most memorable moments in the film, the last touching scene before the battle cry is sounded. And it was something Bernard Hill himself came up with, after seeing the spears lined up in a storage room at Weta and idly running his hand along them as he walked past. He mentioned using it to Jackson as a device to convey the king's connection with his warriors. Jackson promptly added it in.

Another triumph of Return of the King is the development of Gollum (Andy Serkis). The opening sequence, where we get a glimpse of Smeagol's transformation into the creature Gollum, is brilliant. Apparently a scene Jackson considered using in the second film, it works brilliantly to remind us of the power of the ring - and where the journey all started.

Jackson's directorial prowess is also evident in the way the many stories are laced together. As good as the battle scenes are, Jackson knows there's only so long a battle can hold an audience's attention. To keep us locked in, Jackson switches the action deftly between the battles and, for example, to see how Gollum, Frodo and Sam are faring (and fearing) on their weary trek to Mt Doom. It's this clever pacing between the awe-inspiring battle scenes and moments like the touching intimacy between the two Hobbits that will keep viewers glued, hour after hour.

Sir Ian McKellen has said he felt the actors' performances were slightly overlooked in appraisals of first two films in the trilogy. With many of the cast emerging from their shells for this one, that shouldn't be an issue now.

Amongst the characters who shine are Sam (Sean Astin), the loyal companion to Elijah Wood's Frodo. The relationship, which many suggest is based on Tolkien's experiences of the comradeship between British soldiers in WWI, is beautifully conveyed. The depth of feeling between the two is easy to see, thanks to the bucket-loads of Hobbit tears and misty eyes.

Gollum, as mentioned, continues to engross, and is now probably the best known CGI character in moviedom. That status is in no small way due to the sheer brilliance of actor Andy Serkis, who played Gollum for real in filming and was then used as the basis for the computer creation we see on screen.

Other stunning scenes to look for include the lighting of the beacons. Like a Middle Earth version of modern day broadcast transmission towers, the beacons come alight across an incredible landscape (our own Southern Alps) calling the fellowship to war.

All in all, Return of the King is nothing short of a masterpiece. If the end is long in the coming, it's because it's wrapping up three films, not one.

Together the three epics add up to the most amazing cinema adventure ever. Roll on Oscar night.

Watch the trailer on our Lord of the Rings site here.