There is no question that The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King is an incredible movie. Simply look to the 2003 Academy Awards for proof. Return of the King won 11 Oscars, which means that they tied the record held by Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997). While Titanic—as well as All About Eve (1950)—holds the record for most nominations for a film (at fourteen), Return of the King holds the record for the highest sweep. Return of the King won every award in every category for which it was nominated.
This is just to say that if you were looking for some sort of proof that Return of the King is an excellent movie, there it is!
The Opening Scenes
Return of the King might be incredible and amazing and awesome, but it’s not perfect. No movie is. But any criticism I have to give is really only minor and very nit-picky.
Take the opening, for example: while I think it’s a brilliant way to start the film, I am left with some unanswered questions, such as, why does Smeagol sound like Gollum? Wouldn’t his voice change along with his body? Audiences don’t need to hear the voice to know who the character is in the beginning, particularly when they see the Smeagol-to-Gollum progression in the coming scenes. And if Smeagol had the voice even before he transformed into Gollum, why doesn’t Deagol sound more like him? If they’re supposed to be cousins, why does Deagol sound so different?
And if they’re both supposed to be Hobbits (or at least near-Hobbit-like creatures), why are they both so irresistibly drawn to the ring so quickly—almost immediately? Elrond comments in Fellowship that Frodo shows great resilience to the Ring’s powers in taking it from the Shire to Rivendell, and that was over a matter of days. Deagol and Smeagol had the Ring for mere seconds before they start fighting over it. But then, the Ring might be to blame for that. Perhaps, since it’s been lost and without an owner for so long, it’s power to overwhelm someone is much stronger—it wants to be found.
In short, my thoughts regarding the opening are nit-picky. So are my thoughts regarding the resolution.
The Many Resolutions
Many have said about the movie that the resolution is too long and there are too many. These critics have obviously never read the book, where the resolution is much longer and there are even more of them. In the theatrical release, Saruman doesn’t die. He’s just left in his tower to rot, Gandalf saying that he has no power anymore. The extended edition is very different. In that version, Gandalf says instead, “Even in defeat, Saruman is dangerous.” Discussion and arguments ensue, Saruman and Grima from the roof of Orthanc, Gandalf and the others from the ground below. In the end, Grima has had enough and stabs Saruman in the back. This is how Saruman dies in the book too, but the similarities end there.
In the book, Saruman and Grima leave Orthanc and take up residence in the Shire, where Saruman, known there as Sharkey, takes over. Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin find a very different Shire when they come back. This new conflict in the Shire (after all other conflicts in all other areas of Middle-Earth are resolved) give the four Hobbits an opportunity to “practice what they’ve learned” while they were away, and they lead the other Hobbits to victory against Saruman, without the help of men, dwarves, or elves.
The “Scouring of the Shire” is an inspiring story, but it feels out-of-place and anti-climatic. In fact, I vastly prefer the movie’s ending to the book’s ending in this case. Rather than returning to find the Shire a very different place than they left it, they find the Shire exactly the same, which causes them to reflect on how much they’ve changed, an internal conflict which can be harder to resolve. Frodo narrates, “How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart you begin to understand, there is no going back?” It’s a much simpler and much more effective conflict, one that is resolved by Frodo leaving Middle-Earth.
Besides, the main external conflict in Two Towers involves Rohan’s victory and Isengard’s (Saruman’s) defeat, and then the main external conflict in Return of the King is Gondor’s victory and Mordor’s (Sauron’s) defeat. It really makes very little sense to defeat Saruman a second time after Sauron has already been defeated and the main conflict in Return of the King is resolved.
Curiosity Killed the Hobbit
“Fool of a Took!” Speaking of conflict, one character in particular is responsible for many complications, which in turn causes the plot to move forward. In Fellowship, it was Pippin’s disturbing the peace in Moria that caused Gandalf to say that line, adding, “Throw yourself in there next time and rid us of your stupidity.” In Return of the King, it was his curiosity regarding the Palantir that caused problems, which ultimately moved the plot forward. It was because of what Pippin saw in it that Gandalf decided to ride to Minas Tirith. It’s a brief observation, but I find it funny that Pippin accidentally causes so many big plot complications to happen.
Very Different Cultures
One scene in particular shows how different the races are within Middle-Earth, and that scene is set in Edoras, where everyone is drinking. Gimli, a dwarf, challenges Legolas, an elf, to a drinking game. Alcoholic beverages do not seem to affect elves very strongly; their tolerance is quite high. Dwarves on the old hand? They get downright rowdy. As do Hobbits—dancing on tables and carrying on.
Furthermore, I’m not sure what it is about Orc culture, but they enunciate everything very clearly, almost better than elves.
Denethor’s Madness
It is interesting watching Denethor’s madness consume him. In the book, Denethor is more or less simply consumed by grief over Boromir’s death. In the movie, though, Denethor clearly loved Boromir much more than Faramir, saying explicitly that he wished Faramir had died in his brother’s place. He even knowingly orders Faramir back out to take back Osgiliath. Faramir knows that Osgiliath is overrun and has been trying to tell his father that, but chooses to go back out there anyway in order to try to prove to his father that he has worth. He and everyone with him know that they ride to their death.
Denethor knows that too, and so does Pippin, which leads to one of my favorite scenes, shown and described below. Denethor is selfish. When Faramir comes back, near death, Denethor says, “My line has ended” and “Theoden has abandoned me“. He’s the only one who matters to him.
A Few of My Favorite Scenes
As mentioned already, Pippin’s song (Faramir’s Sacrifice) is one of my favorite scenes. Faramir and the other soldiers riding to their death, juxtaposed with Pippin singing, juxtaposed with Denethor eating, seemingly with no care in the world. As the orcs release their arrows on the soldiers, you can see red fruit juices drip down Denethor’s chin—so symbolic and poignant. I love it.
So is the Lighting of the Beacons—I used this scene once during a presentation for a college Media class while teaching about the history of various forms of communication. The scenery and the music oftentimes give me chills when I watch this!
However, my absolute favorite scene of all the movies is the Houses of Healing. It features a beautiful song sung by Liv Tyler (Arwen) and it shows the romance between Eowyn and Faramir, which you don’t get to see in the theatrical release. As this scene begins, you can see Eomer weeping for Eowyn, who he thinks is dead. I have yet to watch this scene and not start to cry myself, as I think about how I might react if I saw my sister dead or near death. I would probably react in much the same way that Eomer does in this scene.
Later, in another scene showing them together as their romance continues to grow, Faramir says, “It’s just the damp after the first spring rain. I do not believe this darkness will endure.” It’s romantic, yes, but more than that, it’s comforting.
This is another reason why I love the movie’s ending more than the book’s: I love the idea of Middle-Earth at peace. These two “Houses of Healing” scenes are very peaceful scenes. Frodo waking up after being rescued by the eagles. Aragorn’s coronation. Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin after they return to the Shire. Middle-Earth during the Fourth Age (after Sauron’s defeat) is my favorite.
Certainly, Return of the King features epic battle sequences, usually followed by incredibly inspiring speeches: Rohan charges after Theoden’s speech to the Rohirrim. Eomer takes down to Oliphants with one spear.
Comparisons with Harry Potter
People ask me fairly often, “Which do you prefer, Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings? The honest answer is that it really depends upon the day, but most of the time, it’s Lord of the Rings. As with the Fellowship review, it’s hard to not think about Harry Potter sometimes, even while watching Lord of the Rings, which is why I shared how the Hogwarts Houses compared with the races of Middle-Earth. During my most recent re-watching of Return of the King, though, I couldn’t help but think of similarities between some characters:
Aragorn is a leader and has black hair, much like Harry Potter. Legolas is smart and has long hair like Hermione. Gimli has red hair and is sometimes portrayed as as bumbling idiot, or at least the “funny” one. One of my favorite Gimli lines, for example, is this: “Certainty of death, small change of success, what are we waiting for?” He has many other funny lines besides that one.
It’s interesting, actually, how main characters often come in threes. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. Luke, Han, and Leia from Star Wars. Harry, Ron, and Hermione from Harry Potter.
Furthermore, both Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings have giant spiders, though Shelob is much more convincing (and therefore scarier) than Aragog. Both series have a old wizard figure, Dumbledore and Galdalf (though Galdalf would most certainly win in a wizard’s duel against Dumbledore in my opinion). And finally, I can’t see Eowyn cut off the Nazgul’s head without picturing Neville Longbottom cutting off Nagini’s head, though I think the similarities between the two characters end there.
Samwise the Brave, Frodo the Credit-Taker
I’ve said this before, but I like pre-ring Frodo more than post-ring Frodo and quite a lot more than during-ring Frodo. Anyone who says that Frodo is the hero of the whole story is either lying or ignorant. “Samwise the Brave” is the true hero in this story. In this story, Sam says things like, “Don’t go where I can’t follow” and “I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you” and does things like, you know, carry him up Mount Doom, fight off Gollum to protect Frodo, and pull him up from the brink of death.
Frodo on the other hand, he says things like, “It’s such a weight to carry” and “It’s so heavy”, and that’s about it. He does things like take the ring for himself and put it on inside Mount Doom, which is about the dumbest thing you can do. I mean, yeah, I get that the Ring is a corrupting force and a burden, but that’s all we ever hear from Frodo—he complains every step of the way, and it’s very clear that if it weren’t for Sam, he never would have made it to Mordor, much less to the top of Mount Doom.
Why, then, is Frodo so special? What about Sam? As the battle rages at the Black Gate, creating a diversion so that Frodo and Sam can reach Mount Doom safely, everyone shouts “for Frodo”! It irritates me how much credit Frodo gets for all the work Sam does to make sure that this journey ends in success. It’s no secret that Frodo is one of my least-favorite characters, or at least one of my least-favorite Hobbits. Among the other three, I like Merry the best, then Sam, then Pippin. What about you? Which characters do you like best? Which Hobbits, specifically? Share in the comments!
