Feb 06, 2004 06:01 PM
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(Updated Feb 06, 2004 06:01 PM)
There are moments in your life when you are just at a loss for words. Words just refuse to come out of your mouth. These moments are fast and fleeting and occur very rarely.
But then.....there are movies like THE LORD OF THE RINGS:THE RETURN OF THE KING where you are at a loss for words countless number of times during the course of the movie. You open your mouth to say ''WHOA!!!!'', and before you can finish that one single word, along comes another scene which uttrely blows your mind.
The movie starts off immediately after the events of THE TWO TOWERS. It starts off with a brief introduction of how Gollum became the creature that he is now. Frodo, Sam and Gollum have now gone beyond The Black Gates of Mordor and are inching to closer to Mount Doom with the help of the sinister creature - Gollum, who is their guide to Mount doom.
Gandalf, Aragorn and the rest are reunited with Pippin and Merry at Isengard where they learn that Sauron is on the verge of overthrowing Minas Tirith, the Crown city of Gondor.
The city of Minas Tirith is set amidst the backdrop ofgorgeous snowlit mountains.It is depicted as a mighty fortress but at the same time has the beauty of a thousand glimmering diamonds. A scene where Gandalf rides through the city of Minas Tirith on his steed, shadowfax, is the most realistic integration of visual effects with actual scenic shots. It is impossible to decipher what is real and what is not. All the battle scenes are superb. It is just a barrage of visually amazing scenes coming right at you, one after the other. Battle scenes of such enormous magnitude have never ever been seen on screen before and every scene is executed to perfection.
One particualr scene where legolas brings down one of those HUGE mammoths on his own deserves special mention.
The pace of the movie is very very good. It starts off a bit slowly with everyone recovering from the events that had occured in THE TWO TOWERS. But after half and hour the movies rumbles on at a furious pace bringing on one gorgeous battle scene after another.
The movie switches between two basic parts-
The journey of frodo,sam and gollum in mordor.
The battle of minas tirith and the final battle at mordor.
Seeing the first two movies is a definite must to get the plot of the movie which is a simple good vs evil story tied together with a lot of intricate sub-stories that hold the main plot together.
Reading the book written by JRR Tolkien is also recommended because Peter Jackson was unable to cover quite a big chunk of the movie. Though not affecting the main plot,reading the book will definitely provide a lot more info about the plethora of characters in the story.
Now, onto Gollum. Gollum/smeagol is definitely the most amazing and realistic CGI character ever created. Gollum is voiced by the very talented Andy Serkis and even gollums expressions was created by capturing serkis's facial movements. Gollum's multiple personality is characterized wonderfully in a sequence where he is talking to his reflection in the water.
The manner in which gollum seamlessly blends in with his surounding is simply amazing.I might run out of adjectives just trying to describe gollum:).
All the actors play their part to perfection.The music in the movie is again of the first order. The music and sound effects during the battle scenes are heart stopping. ALL HAIL PETER JACKSON:).The man has done a brilliant job of rendering JRR Tolkiens masterpiece on the big screen and in the process has made the movie HIS very own masterpiece.
I could go on and on about how great this movie is.
LOTR:ROTK is meant to be watched in the best cinema hall in town with amazing surround sound.Only then do you get the full effect of the movie.
I had very high expectations of this movie before I went to watch it, expectations which many of my friends thought were impossible to meet. But then ROTK has crossed those expections leaving them miles behind.
ROTK has definitely raised the bar for film-making and will remain a benchmark for many years to come.
THE RETURN OF THE KING is not a complete movie on its own.It is the finale of a gripping and beautiful experience. No movie-goer should miss out on the opportunity to watch it.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS series has come to a close with THE RETURN OF THE KING.
I have been very priveleged to watch all three movies in good cinema halls and own the dvd editions of the first two movies.Peter jackson deserves all the credit in the world and there is no doubt that LOTR:ROTK will sweep away all the awards at the oscars this year.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS was not just any other movie.....it was an experience..... an experience that can never ever be forgotten.
