And it looks like inevitably Elijah Wood will make a second appearance in this film blog, but instead of being a cannibal/serial killer, he will instead be a courageous hobbit who stands no more than 4’6″ tall.

well you certainly look different from the last time we saw you. let’s have a refresher…

Slightly more creepy than an adorable hobbit

I’m talking about The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

Now, this week I have chosen this film for a multitude of reasons: 1. I was recently geeking out about this movie to a friend of mine, having an argument about why Pippin had a different accent than Frodo if they both lived in the Shire. 2. I probably quote this move 3 times a day (I have yet to find someone who knows what I’m talking about when I do this). 3. I was reminiscing about the Lord of the Rings movie marathon my sister and I had last Easter, completely shunning our family for 10 hours and becoming enthralled in the journey to destroy the one ring.

It’s true: every Lord of the Rings film is completely commendable and their merit does not differ vastly (which is incredibly rare in a trilogy, making this film series so unique). But alas, I could not blog about the entire trilogy. No one has time to read that. Therefore I chose my personal favorite of the three: The Return of the King. This film is the last one in the series of three, and my first time watching it was in theaters in 3rd grade (how I could even comprehend the film and why my father thought that was a good idea still eludes me) and I was in love. Since then I have watched the film around roughly 60 times, which is about 180 hours of my life. Time well spent I say. The sad part is I’m not even exaggerating.

So about the film itself. This film was shot in New Zealand and it’s incredibly famous for its mountainous terrain and breathtaking aerial shots of fairy tale-like mountains, streams and castles. The setting was only one of the reasons for its magical qualities. The wizard, Gandalf, was played by Ian McKellen and I believe his voice is only rivaled by Morgan Freeman and perhaps Christopher Lee (who plays the dark wizard Saruman). He is a knighted gentleman and was casted by Peter Jackson because he wanted to avoid “big names”. Well, because of the movies’ success, most of the cast ended up receiving fame afterward. The only cast member I can immediately recall as having a large amount of status beforehand is Sean Astin, who played Rudy Rudiger in one of the greatest sports films of all time, Rudy in 1993, before he acted out the role of Samwise Gamgee, Frodo’s faithful gardener.

absolutely breathtaking scenery. Thank you, New Zealand.

water. so. clean. mountains. so. beautiful. again, superb location.

One of the reasons I love this film is because of its artistic interpretations and metaphors. The concept of good v. evil is so clearly defined, and where other films are celebrated because they question the perception of what is good and what is evil, this film has its merit for the opposite reason. There is no question that the audience wants man to survive and the Saruon and the orcs to perish. Some have actually compared this conflict to an analogy of World War II from the allied perspective, because of the stark contrast between what we believe to be good and evil. Tolkien wrote this tale after the conflict and some believe it to have influenced his work. Actually, when Tolkien began to weave this fantasy land and create worlds, he started the novel out while grading papers at Oxford with the sentence “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” And thus legend was born. The emotion and adversity the entire cast overcomes is so powerful, and brilliantly backed up with an epic sound track of heavy brass and soprano voices.

the light radiating from the top of the image and the white horse clearly indicated that the oncoming charge is from the forces of good. Although this is from The Two Towers, I feel like this is a pretty good example.

Those who achieved fame after the release of this film include Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett, Ian McKellen, and various others. The Return of the King is the only fantasy film to have won the Academy Award for Best Picture and every single Academy Award it was nominated for it won (a total of 11 awards). This film was the second film to gross over 1 billion dollars worldwide.

Epic battles, beautiful setting, an seemingly impossible quest? What more could you want from a film?

Fantasy lovers and haters alike, I ask you to unite and watch this film if you haven’t already done so. But start from The Fellowship of the Ring then move onto The Two Towers and then last The Return of the King. Oh and while you’re at it go ahead and watch The Hobbit too because it just came out on DVD. Watch it while you’re sick and make whatever illness you have worthwhile because there are no regrets with this film.

Credits:

http://www.omg-facts.com/lists/42/7-Little-Known-Lord-Of-The-Rings-Facts/3

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167260/

http://www.jenneethompsonblog.com/2012/10/lotr-frodo-baggins-and-heart-of-purity.html

http://www.technologytell.com/gaming/55189/lord-of-the-rings-motion-picture-trilogy-blu-ray-review/

http://themindofshadow.blogspot.com/2012/05/lord-of-rings-return-of-king-extended.html

http://www.thomasvan.com/inspiration/leadership-is-a-fundamental-of-life-follow-the-leader/attachment/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-return-of-the-king-2003

http://www.movpins.com/dHQwMTY3MjYw/the-lord-of-the-rings:-the-return-of-the-king-(2003)/