The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

"The Return of the King" is by far the most moving, inspirational, and epic of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings Trilogy movies. The movie plot is compelling with themes of friendship, strength, and loyalty. Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee continue their quest to destroy the One Ring at Mount Doom led by Gollum. Gollum becomes more cunning and sneaky than ever. Gandalf the White, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli regroup with Merry and Pippin in Isengard, and they learn that Sauron is planning a full-scale attack on the largest city of men, Minas Tirith in Gondor. The rest of the Fellowship prepares for another battle to hold Minas Tirith against an onslaught of the armies of Mordor. A distress called is sent to Rohan, and King Theoden is able muster a large army of Rohirrim, to set out for Minas Tirith. After the free people's victory at the Battle Pelennor Fields, the Fellowship what remaining forces of Gondor and Rohan that they have and storm the Black Gate to distract the Eye of Sauron's gaze and buy time for Frodo to finish his quest. The movie set for Minas Tirith, The City of Kings, is very gorgeous. The lighting of the beacon is authentic. The costumes, weapons, armor, props and movie sets are very well tailored by the film crew. The special effects for The army of the Dead (oathbreakers), Gollum, Shelob the spider, the mumakil, the eagles, Sauron's Eye, the fellbeasts and the trolls are breathtaking and incredible. The movie visuals for Minas Tirith, Pelennor Fields, Osgiliath, The Grey Havens, Mordor, The Black Gate, Mount Doom, Minas Morgul and Shelob's Lair are spectacular. King Thedeon's speech at Pelennor Fields and Aragorn's speech at the Black Gate are some of the best movie battle speeches ever. The heroism and romance are incredibly moving. Gandalf's speech to Pippin about death being another path to take in life is so emotional. Sam Gamgee's devotion to Frodo is something that can show what true friendship is. The battles are amazing and always heightening the tension. The tension for the siege on Minas Tirith is so highly anticipated. The acting and the cast crew are superb. Sir Ian McKellen is flawless in his role as Gandalf the White. Viggo Mortenssen is at his charismatic in his role as Aragorn. Sean Astin captures Samwise Gamgee perfectly and is able to provide the character's heart. Andy Serkis provides a stirring and great performance as Smeagol/Gollum. Orlando Bloom as Legolas and John Rhys-Davies as Gimli carry their roles very well. Elijiah Wood gives a great performance as Frodo Baggins descenting into corruption with an incredible talent. Dominic Monaghan (Merry) and Billy Boyd (Pippin) still make a great duo. David Wenham is very good in his role as Faramir. John Noble gives a brilliant performance as the tragic and broken Lord Denethor. Lawrence Makoare was incredible in his role as Gothmog, the orc lieutenant from Minas Morgul. The rest of the cast including Bernard Hill, Mirianda Otto, Karl Urban, Ian Holm, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving are perfect in their roles. The Battle of Pelennor Fields is still the most spectacular and epic battle sequences in Hollywood movie history. The visual effects of battle at Minas Tirith are stunning and perfectly executed. Orcs are not the only participants in the battle. Trolls are heavily used as warriors and beasts of burden. The men from Harad and their mumakil play a significant part in the battle. We see just how powerful the Nazgul really are as they do a lot of damage in battle while on their fellbeasts. Even though the free people win the battle, there till so much grief with all the destruction and the losses of human lives. The incredible scope of the battle with the special effects, sounds, and many close-ups of pieces of the action make for an exciting scene. The final stand at the Black Gate is so emotional involving and is done so with vision beyond imagination. The many endings are brilliant with the destruction of the One Ring, the final defeat of Sauron, Aragorn becoming the King of Gondor and Frodo sailing into the West.

Peter Jackson has succeeded in this film. I like the plot (though Tolkien's book tells the story differently) and the heroes. My favorite character is Sméagol (Gollum), he's a funny creature. I think Andy Serkis plays him spectacularly. Then I like Legolas. Orlando Bloom is the perfect player. All I can say is well done P.J.

Return of the king is the finale of the other two lotr. It is that one movie that hold many different endings, and in the end, all is good. My first go around on these movies, I had a bad feeling about the darkness in the movies. I stayed true to them just so I could see the end. When the end came, did I cry! It was totally worth it. 9 hours of watching strait to get to the end. This is a MUST SEE. If you are like I was, I promise you that you will be at peace at the end. All the darkness to find the light.