The story so far...
Armies of Saruman have been defeated in the battle of Helm's Deep by the combined forces of Theoden, Eomer & the Elves. The tower of fortress Isengard has been gutted by the ancient Ents angry over Saruman's deforestation (statutory waring: don't cut the trees. Else Ents will get you!).
But the threat still looms large over the southern kingdom of Gondor... as Saurons army of Orcs, goblins, Trolls & evil men of Harad (Haradrim) riding Mumakils (also called Oliphaunts -giant multi-tusked elephants). This army is much larger than the army that attacked Rohan & it is led by the Witch-king of Angmar the lord of the Nazgul along with his pack of Shdaow Riders (Nazgul riding flying steeds). And unkown to the Gondorians, Sauron has also sent a huge army to attack Gondor from the sea, to take men by surprise.
Return of the King
Led by Gandalf... Aragorn, Gimli & Legolas reach Isengard. They are joined by Merry & Pippin in the ruins of Isengard. The Palantir of Saruman is discovered & is taken into safe custody by Gandalf. The curiousity of Pippin takes over the better of him; he steals & looks into the Palantir. There he sees the 'White Tree' outside the palace of Minas Thirith (capital of Gondor) burning & comes into direct contact with the 'Great Eye' ( the spirit of Sauron leaving above the dark fortress of Barad-Dur).
Though saved by Gandalf from the evil of the Palantir, as a punishment for his misdeed, Pippin ( Peregrin Took) is taken by Gandalf along with him to Minas Thirith, to warn Denethor II, the steward of Gondor. Merry (Meriadoc Brandybuck) returns to Rohan along with Aragorn & team. He becomes a squire of King Theoden there.
[Note : Though it is none of his fault, the arrival of Gandalf always portends a grave calamity is about to befall on his hosts. The very reason he is also called the 'Storm Crow'. This could be the reason for less-than-warm reception he receives from his hosts!]
As expected Gandalf is not welcomed by Denethor. The Steward of Gondor has lost his mind under depression over his beloved son Boromir's death ( MS & the topic of 'Handling Depressions' wasn't in vogue then). All the gaurding towers surrounding Minas Thirith have been over-run by the Orcs. Overcome by feeling of indebtedness over Boromirs sacrifice to save him, Pippin pledges his service to Denethor & becomes his bondsman.
Mentally imbalanced & arrogant Denethor refuses to seek the aid of Theoden & Rohan. Instead of trying to secure the city, Denethor sends his younger son Faramir riding to the battle field to face certain death from the goblin archers. When his son is facing certain death, Denethor is shown eating fruits alone, spewing red-juice infront of guests. Faramirs army is destroyed under attack from the Orcs. Faramir returns to Gondor mortally wonded. Unaware that his son is still alive, Denethor makes arrangement to burn him alive!
The treacherous Gollum manages to sow the seeds of suspicion into Frodo's mind about Sam's intentions regarding the ring. Estranged from his loyal friend Frodo is led into the dark maze-like lair of Shelob, a gaint spider. Samwise Gamjee manages to save Frodo from Shelob, fighting it off with Bilbos sword 'The Sting' (which glows blue when Orcs are around). He also manages to save Frodo from the Orcs that captivate him. Dressed as Orcs the hobbits continue their journey towards Mount Doom in Mordor.
As per the advice of Galadriel Elrond decides to help men in their fight, instead of fleeing from Middle-Earth. He reforges the broken shards of Narsil, the original sword of prince Isildur that cut the Saurons finger, into a new powerful sword Anduril, the flame of the west. And gifts this sword to Aragorn Ellessar, the true heir of Isildur.
The King referred here Aragorn Ellesar, who finally agrees to shoulder his responsibility as the heir of Isildur & decides to return to Gondor as it's king to save it from it's enemies. Having realized that men are out-numbered against Saurons forces, Aragorn enters the White Mountains to seek the help of 'Dead Men'. These are the ghosts of the men cursed to remain forever on Middle-Earth by Isildur after they abandoned their oath of aid to him during the War against Sauron. Only the heir of Isildur can release them from the curse.
Did King Theoden come to the rescue to Gondor? Was Aragorn able to convince the Dead-Men to join him in the war? Were Gondorians able to ward of the land attack of Orcs & Hardrim ? Did they withstand the aerial attacks of air-borne Nazgul? Were Frodo & Sam able to deceive the ever-watchful 'Great Eye' of Sauron & reach Mount Doom? Was Frodo able undo the ring? Or was he overcome by the desire to own the ring & repeat the mistake of Isildur? Is it the end of 'Age of Men' & the beginning of the 'Age of Orc' on middle-earth?
Return of the King unfolds it's story as the future of Middle-Earth hangs in balance. Don't miss this epic movie
Return of the Reviewer
If there is a movie that could stand a pedestal higher than 'The Two Towers', it is 'The Return of the Kings'. There is no element of surprises here... the same Gollum, Oliphaunts, Shadow Riders etc. But the special effects department do show their mettle while fiming the battle sequences of 'Battle of Pellenor Fields' (Minas Thirith) & 'Battle of Mordor'. The way the scenes of aerial attacks of Shadow Riders has been shot, is to be seen to be belived. The lavish sets, an eye for detail in everything including the set of 'Lair of Shelob', city & fortress of Minas Thirit, the cave of the Dead-Men, Dark-Tower of Barad-Dur, Mount Doom... director Peter Jackson leaves no stones unturned while bringing this epic end to a mystical saga, live on big screen
The 'King' has to cover lesser story than the 'Towers', but more than the 'Fellowship'. Given the number of characters & the screen space that could be given to them without stretching the movie over 5 hours, all actors including Elijah Wood (Frodo), Ian McKellen, Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Rhy-Davies etc. have acted well.
Though the opening sequence of Gollum (Smeagol) killing his best friend Deagol seems out of place in this movie. Perhaps PJ included this part as a metaphor to the worsening of relation between best friends Frodo & Sam. And perhaps to give is a better understanding of the nature of Gollum about to lead his kind master Frodo to death.
Finally the hobbits Merry & Pippin find their due place of honor as accorded to them by Tolkiens story, which portrays them as brave valiant hobbits & not just comic reliefs as they were shown in LOTR 1 & LOTR 2 movies.
The ending did drag a bit. An extended ending was probably shown to placate the feelings of LOTR fans angered over the exclusion of Saruman & the Battle of Bywater (where Saruman meets his Waterloo). PJ could have just given it as an extra in the DVD version
Special effects to watch out for...
# Frodo & Sams Fight with Shelob
# Aerial attack of the Nazgul
# Oliphaunt attack
# Battle of Minas Thirit (Pellenor Fields)
# Battle of Mordor
# Cave of Dead-Men (though PJ could have done better with the attack of the Dead-Men)
# Gollum (of course)
LOTR review series has also been return-to-MS review for me after a long hiatus. Sadly like all good things LOTR & this review have come to an end. Must say that I did enjoy writing this review to the fullest & also grateful for the responses received. May be the review could have been better... but this is the best justice I could personally do to Tolkiens imagination & PJs vision.
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