The Year 2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Peter Jackson)

Without doubt Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was the film event of the year, filmed back to back, Peter Jackson's massive epic trilogy finally came to fruition, scooping a record tying horde at the year's Academy Awards, reaped critical acclaim and stormed the box-office. Sam Juliano of the outstanding Wonders in the Dark, an assortment of critics, film aficionados and enthusiasts who combine their talents to form the finest film salon there is, witnesses a film that's 'majestic, awe-inspiring and extraordinary' and implores everyone to watch the extended edition DVD to fully appreciate 'the best film of 2003'.

After Peter Jackson’s The Return of the King won eleven Academy Awards to tie the all time record with Ben-Hur and Titanic, the film, inevitably was doomed to widespread backlash, which has persisted to this very day. It is fashionable for film snobs to now dump on the film, and the trilogy it concludes, but truth be said the most telling award of all won by the film was announced in December of 2003, when the New York Film Critics Circle in a rather shocking decision named the film best of the year. The Gotham scribes rarely give their biggest prize to mainstream fare, opting for small independents and art house films. The year before, in 2002, they named Todd Haynes’s Far From Heaven the year’s top film. The artistic validation bestowed on the film in the Big Apple was duplicated throughout the nation with critics’s group after critic’s group giving their top award to Peter Jackson’s film. In any case The Return of the King, against all odds is the best of the three films in the trilogy, and the one that blends all the elements of the others films-ferocious battles, epic conflicts, ethereal landscapes and an operatic sweep that elevates the film to level of emotion and exhilaration that nears spirituality. While the first film The Fellowship of the Ring, introduced the hobbits and the magical characters that were essayed in the subsequent installments, and The Two Towers was in large measure a prolongation battle, the third delivered the emotional payoff, and was the defining coda of the long journey that for its staggered release was actually filmed in one continuous stretch.

To say that The Return of the King is majestic, awe-inspiring and extraordinary is to be painfully obvious, but in the absence of a better way to convey the experience these generalizations must suffice. From the outset, Jackson has stressed the necessity of having seen the previous entry to fully grasp the launching of the new installment by way of character and narrative. Hence, the hobbits Frodo and Sam commence on their journey to Mordor’s Mount Doom t o obliterate the sacred One Ring, while the emaciated and “bi-polar” guide, Golum tries to bring danger to Frodo and lead him to oppose Sam in a secret attempt to steal the ring for himself. The mission to obtain the ring is exhausting for Frodo, but Sam gains the necessary strength to allow them to achieve the success they have their lives to achieve. Still, Frodo’s inch-by-inch journey, which includes peril at very turn over with twisting stairs and a terrifying encounter with an enormous spider, Shelob. The astonishingly delineated and realistic arachnid stings Frodo and quickly wraps him into a mummy. Sam comes to the rescue and engages the beast with sword in hand, in another unforgettable and choreographed set piece. the eventual safe return of Frodo at the bowels of Mount Doom is a scene of specious power which also suggests an unachieved spirituality.

Meanwhile, Gandalf and the hobbit Pippin, with the monumental battle of Helm’s Deep concluded, embarked on the city of Minas Tirith to alert the inhabitants of an imminent invasion, while the human warrior Aragorn and three other elves and dwarfs look for assistance in the final battle for Middle Earth. Jackson then introduces a two-part assault on the sense, with a pair of battles, the Siege of Minas Tirith and the Battle of Pellenor Fields, a one-hour action sequence, replete with plotting, military strategy, and narrative progression that must surely rank among the most riveting and electrifying of its kind in the history of the cinema. Only near the end of this battle is there what appears to be an artistic misstep, when Aragorn is forced to enlist the support of the “dead” against the Orcs. Within the parameter of fantasy and myth of which this film falls squarely within, the device contains rather dubious special effects that make the these figures look like green ghosts gliding across the field. Deftly weaving through time periods and locations that made Tolkien’s original novels such challenging reading, Jackson minimizes the narrative confusion that normally would inform such an auspicious undertaking and faithfully returning to threads that were temporarily abandoned for various shifts of focus.

Subsequently, Frodo puts on the Ring, but Gollum bites off the finger and dances for joy, as Frodo counter attacks, lunging at Gollum and ending up hanging at the side of a rock. Sam pulls him up, but they are trapped on an island of an ash pile. One of the film’s most breathtaking moments occurs at this point, when Gandalf flies on an eagle, safely carrying the Frodo and Sam to safety in a sequence that so imbued with celestial splendor and awe-inspiring aural operatic accompaniment, that it stretches the capabilities of what cinema can accomplish in wedding image to emotion. It’s at this point that the full realization of the invaluable contribution of composer Hans Zimmer, whose score here is as important to The Return of the King as any other contribution. There’s an other-worldly grandeur that underscores the ravishing visuals supplied by Jackson, cinematographer Andrew Lesnie and production designer Grant Major. The creativity in all the technical departments, evident in the first two installments, has been intensified here. The most painterly visual sequence of all is the wedding set piece with Aragon and Arwen, and the former’s coronation, where the warrior tells the hobbits: “My friends, you bow to no one.” The whole population of Gondor bows to the hobbits, who then return to their home country, the shire. It is at this point that Jackson refuses to let go, and a succession of “final” endings are attached to the final reel that incurred critical disdain, especially among the few that were not adherents of the series in the first place. But the physical tapestry of these final encores add, rather than detract from this inexhaustibly beautiful canvas.

Jackson’s veteran cast, all familiar with their developing and developed characters, render an added level of poignancy to their roles that reaches full consummation in this final part of the trilogy. The heartfelt bond of Frodo and Sam is beautifully evoked by Elijah Wood Jr. and Sean Astin. Astin, who was something of a sidekick in the first film metamorphosed into one of the work’s most vital and inspiring figures. The frustration and fear he feels in losing Frodo to the power of the ring is intimately felt, as is the strength he feels in himself to carry on. Andy Serkis, with CGI assistance used to mimic his movements, is simultaneously haunting, endearing and terrifying as Gollum, and Ian McKellen again delivers a commanding performance of great warmth as Gandalf after being left off the second installment’s cast. Of course Viggo Mortenson as Aragorn is that physically endowed warrior that any action or adventure film would dream for. Billy Boyd is perhaps the most impressive (as Pippin) of the remaining roles, though Liv Tyler looks great as Arwan.

One caveat: If you haven’t seen the extended edition DVD, you are depriving yourself of the intended version, as the theatrical version leaves out vital narrative information, which not only improves the arc of the story, but also brings character development to full fruition. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in this extended form is unquestionably the best film of 2003, and a strong contender for the top spot in cinematic achievement since the beginning of the new millennium.