The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King



I went and saw this on Wednesday night, and I loved it. I'm not going to write too much about it because everyone else is writing about it too. Of a movie that was made up almost entirely of highlights (I'm sure the extended version will be more balanced), my favorite bits were the charge of the Oliphants into the battle outside Minas Tirith, and the opening of the Black Gate to reveal Sauron's army and Sauron's Tower casting a red light over the whole scene.


Everybody loves a parade!

The other main thing that struck me about Return of the King was it's length. That unto itself is not a problem for me. I can sit. But I have a bladder of finite capacity, and even with careful rationing of Arizona Sweet Tea my back teeth began floating about the same time the siege on Minas Tirith was lifted. I understand that intermissions are a tough thing to handle at a multiplex, but if movies are going to continue being this long, we're going to need them. This newspaper has a good discussion of the issue.


Whew, I though I'd never find a place to go to the bathroom."

At the end there are about six scenes of wrap-up, including the inevitable tearful parting between Sam and Frodo, and director Peter Jackson decides to not try to avoid the repressed homosexuality that some people find in the book, but has Frodo kiss Sam. On the forehead. Still, the intention seems to be to just wade into the controversy and defuse it. On the other hand, Jackson chooses to avoid all the racial overtones in Tolkein's books by making the Southrons white guys.

I'll be making my girlfriend go see Return of the King in a couple of weeks. We'll see how she reacts to it.

Posted: Sat - December 20, 2003 at      

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