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Source:
rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup
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Only twice before, in 30 years of going to the movies, has it happened whilst I was there. The first was during Indiana Jones, when he was faced with that sword-wielding opponent. Indy seems gone for all money as he is unarmed. Suddenly he whips out a gun and bang, he shoots the enemy and wins. The audience spontaneously applauds. Mid-film. Last night, during a preview of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, it happened again.
No, I won't spoil the what, who and how, but hopefully when you get to see this extraordinary, breathtaking movie, it will happen for you.
Peter Jackson is a cyberweaver. Sure he sets a new benchmark for brilliant CGI visual effects, but they are interwoven with emotional and involving human elements. The effects themselves are jaw dropping, but they add to the mix, rather than dominate. It is CGI in context.
I can't really go into the storyline too much as 1) you probably know it or 2) if you don't, it would spoil it. Suffice to say, we jump back and forth between the "Frodo" , "Gandalf" and "Aragorn" threads. It's done with care and skill and - at over three hours - we also have enough time to close out this complicated story and yet still provide an enthralling and entertaining experience.
The Battle scenes - as the producers had hinted - seem to be an order of magnitude larger than The Two Towers. As per the books the character focus shifts in the final installment with Sam and Pippin having larger roles. Other ones: Shelob, the giant spider; The Dead Oathbreakers; The Oliphants and the flying Nazgūl are literally awesome. A slight hint - if you are scared of spiders, you may feel the urge for a sudden popcorn feast coming on. Or a full bladder.
As if these aren't stunning enough, it's the human (et al) scale that brings home the achievement. In a number of shots we witness a character interacting with the CGI world in stunning way. In one example, we see Gandalf on his horse, riding around the winding pathway up the huge Minas Tirith. It's all done from a continuous, sweeping, 'helicopter' viewpoint and from a distance that shows the sheer scale of things in Tolkien's world.
To be fair, Peter Jackson and team had extremely strong source material, but that is only the input to the movie algorithm. Give me the same marble block and I couldn't carve a David statue.
Having said that, I was very disappointed with The Matrix Revolutions. My only comment on this is that the bar has now been set for George Lucas for his next film. He should watch Return of the King very, very carefully.
Whiz bang effects mean nothing without heart. Computer silicon is cold, but it can combine with gifted filmmakers to produce a heartwarming, thrilling and satisfying masterpiece.
Memo: P Jackson c/- New Zealand. So long and thanks for all the films. Seriously: ta muchly. You've worked magic. By the way, what about The Hobbit? The Silmarillion? Come on. You're on a roll, mate...
By : David Sidwell (http://www.artwill.com.au)
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Source:
rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup
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As I stood in line waiting to purchase my ticket to the eagerly awaited final installment of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, the patron at the box office window asked about the running time of the film. The ticket agent replied, "three hours and forty minutes, including commercials and previews." That's quite a chunk of time! And, if you add in drive time, parking time, and standing-in-line time, the amount of time you'll invest to see this will rival that of attending a professional football game. Heck, you could drive from DC to NYC in less time. It's the kind of time frame that you would allocate for big events.
However, "LOTR: Return of the King" is a big event. It is bold and beautiful. It is certain to earn a "Best Picture" academy award nomination because it is one of the most spectacular films of the year. It almost vindicates an entirely timid movie season in which there were very, very few standout offerings. And something that you hardly every see occurred, which was a warm round of applause from the audience after the film's conclusion.
With "Return of the King," the epic J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy about Hobbits and heroism, liberty and loyalty, vice and valor, comes full circle. The trilogy began assuredly with "The Fellowship of the Ring." It lost a bit of its footing with "The Two Towers," which felt incomplete and choppy. However, in this closing installment, every one's destiny is confidently realized with emotionally satisfying and weighty results.
We watch with abated breath as brave Hobbits Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) continue their insuperable journey towards the belly of Mount Doom where they must destroy the ring. They continue to traverse inhospitable terrain, grudgingly accept the aid of the self-serving creature Gollum, avoid giving away their presence to the Dark Lord, and internally struggle with the nature of greed as brought forth by the cursed ring.
Meanwhile, for the remainder of the fellowship, they are preparing for a crucial battle to defend the city stronghold of Minas Tirith, one of the last great cities of humankind. The struggle for life and death brings out the best or worst in all. And their natures and destinies will be revealed by battle's end. And we will learn if Lord Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) has matured enough to be our next king.
It's achievement in wonderful storytelling is equally matched by the film's technical brilliance, which strikes an incredible balance between ambition and gratification. The effort is clearly a labor of love for Director Peter Jackson who ably transports us into a wondrous Middle Earth world filled with creatures that are foul and fey, magical and mystical. It seamlessly blends live action with special effects so well that we readily accept the realness of the putrid Gollum character and marvel at the precision in which a giant spider wraps its prey in sticky silk strands. But its showcase piece is the grand battle that is awe-inspiring in every sense of the word. I hesitate to give anything away because it is by far the most impressive spectacle that you have seen in the movies in quite some time. Just find a way to see it. Director Peter Jackson's commitment to its realization is unconditional.
It has been a long journey for moviegoers (over three years and 9 hours of film) just as it has been a long journey for brave Frodo. I couldn't wait to see how the film ended. And now that it has, I wished that there were still more ahead.
By : Homer Yen
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