Viewed on the weekend, to celebrate my B-day
:
“
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”
High fantasy has never fared better than this in cinema. There have been many interesting and visually-glamorous fantasy films under Hollywood’s belt, but adapting JRR Tolkien’s seminal “Lord of the Rings” novels was a delicate task. It is such a long-winded epic, filled to the brim with detail, characterizations, rich settings, massive battles, and strange encounters; not only would the filmmakers have to balance out the style and substance, but they also had to balance the story with the film’s runtime and limitations. Even at three hours or more per film, compromises had to be made. In less skilled hands, this film saga could have been a disastrous mess.
First time watching this movie, I realized very quickly that everything in it was perfect! It offers an impressive and lavish spectacle right off the bat; the prologue scenes in themselves were impressive enough to blow me away and lure me into the story. It takes a while for the film to reach its next most impressive scenes: the dungeon-crawling scenes in the Mines of Moria, and the final fight with the Uruk-Hai, all of which are a blast to watch. Even then, however, the film never really drags; the main characters are forced to confront peril at every turn, generating tension and unease throughout the film. The film pulls a few clever punches to keep the audience on its toes.
As far as the story goes, it is a close adaptation of the original story. It does take some liberties, mostly minor as I recall. Purists may want to nitpick about things for the entire saga, but as it is, I think this is the best the filmmakers can manage. The film does a great job of telling the story in a coherent manner, and incorporating many details of Middle Earth. It also does a great job with the characters; each remain true to their original depictions, and are brought to life impeccably.
Finally, the film’s craftsmanship is impressive. The film is lensed with vivid style, and pieced together with quality editing. Only a few fight scenes show iffy camerawork, due to excessive shaking and movements, but such shots are few and far between. Acting is perfect; Ian McKellen is Gandalf, Elijah Wood is Frodo, Viggo Mortensen is Aragorn, and every other actor fulfills their part wonderfully. Writing is elegant. With phenomenal attention to detail, this movie offers a smorgasbord of great and real-looking sets, props, and costumes. Special effects show their age just slightly; they are frequently-used and frequently awesome. Howard Shore’s music score is beautiful.
Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” films are a success at balancing out action, quality storytelling, and fine craftsmanship. Without exaggeration, it stands as my personal favorite film franchise, and it proves to be the ultimate among fantasy films.
5/5 (Entertainment: Perfect | Story: Perfect | Film: Perfect)
“
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”
Picking up where “The Fellowship of the Ring” left off, this second part of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy offers a spectacle that few, if any, other fantasy films can surpass. It starts off impressively, showing a glimpse of Gandalf’s epic duel with the Balrog (which is concluded later in the film, with equally spectacular results). The film continues to boil over with incredibly exciting sequences: the Battle of Helms Deep, the march of the Ents, fighting at Osgiliath, fighting between orc warg riders and horsemen, and more! “The Two Towers” offers fantastic action scenes that should not be missed!
The attention to the saga’s story is still paramount. The film continues the trend of following the books faithfully, taking a few major deviations to help mold the story into the confines of the film. As such, the story still runs strong, and the characters still show phenomenal development. The film continues to animate the Middle Earth before our eyes, full of vivid detail and life.
Once again, the film shows incredible style, with fantastic photography and editing. Acting is still top-notch: every member of the film’s epic cast does their best to make each character memorable, lively, and deep. Writing is still quite elegant. This production boasts fantastic sets, props, costumes, and locales. The music score is a work of beauty as well.
As it is with “The Fellowship of the Ring,” this follow-up still represents a perfect balance between superb action, storytelling, and craftsmanship. For this reason, “The Two Towers” gets a perfect score from me, affirming my conviction that the entire “Lord of the Rings” trilogy is one trilogy to rule them all.
5/5 (Entertainment: Perfect | Story: Perfect | Film: Perfect)
“
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King”
The cumulative spectacle of “The Fellowship of the Ring” and “The Two Towers” is extraordinarily grand and epic as it is, but the trilogy’s biggest and most satisfying scenes are found in this final film. The siege of Gondor is a long, massive, awe-inspiring sequence, in which a quarter-of-a-million orcs are shown on screen, besieging the mighty stone city of Minas Tirith. The battle wears on and throws catapults, siege towers, armored trolls, Nazgul, horsemen, giant freaking elephants, and an army of ghosts onto the battlefield. Outside of the main battle, there’s a plethora of other great scenes, including a glimpse at Gollum’s origins (a rather tragic, heart-breaking scene), Sam and Frodo fighting against Shelob, Aragorn confronting ghosts, a climactic battle at the gates of Mordor, and finally, Frodo’s moment of truth at Mount Doom. These are the moments that everything else has been building up to, and these are the moments that may never be topped by any other film.
These moments are not mere eye candy (although they please the eyes quite well); they are integral plot elements, serving to climax the story arc and wrap up the entire saga. As such, the film takes some liberties with JRR Tolkien’s original story, but is mostly spot-on. All of the characters continue to show good depth, and the story’s basic themes are displayed accurately. Overall, the film does a fine job of presenting the story and painting Middle Earth on the screen for all to see.
As it is with the previous two films, “Return of the King” shows quality cinematography and editing prowess. Acting from all cast members is top-notch; everybody puts on a phenomenal performance and brings the characters to life perfectly. Writing is still good and elegant. This production continues to utilize quality sets, props, costumes, and special effects. Howard Shore’s music score is as beautiful and triumphant as ever.
All of the “Lord of the Rings” films do a fantastic job of striking a balance between impressive action, apt storytelling, and quality craftsmanship. The trilogy overall is a continuous epic that tells one cohesive and coherent story, and collectively, it stands as my personal favorite franchise above all others. For giving a finale that is truly grand, I rank “Return of the King” as the best of the lot, affirming my belief that this is one saga to rule them all.
5/5 (Entertainment: Perfect | Story: Perfect | Film: Perfect)
If you watch the extended versions of these films, you will be treated with somewhere between two to three hours worth of added scenes, all of which have been completed in post-production and are seamlessly woven into each film. These scenes offer tremendous insight into the story, characters, themes, and background. They also serve to tighten the bonds between the three films. Some of the added scenes are downright awesome. Overall, even though it makes the series run for twelve hours in total, the extended versions never drag, and actually makes a good series of films even better.
Recommendation:
Yes for all!
On Blu-Ray, the extended edition looks phenomentally sharp, clean, clear, and vivid. "The Fellowship" is probably the only source of major contention, due to an extreme amount of contrast boosting that renders most shadow detail crushed. To be most blunt, a lot of these scnes are pretty damn dark, and it makes certain scenes hard to see. Other parts of the film look beautiful. Whether or not the color scheme is an improvement over the theatrical cut is highly debatable. Fortunately, the definition is way way better than the theatrical cut. One thing is certain: if any DNR or EE is applied to these films, it's very slight, and it doesn't hinder the transfers any. In short, all three films come close to looking perfect. Sound quality is awesome!
Fellowship Extended: PQ: 4.5/5, AQ: 5/5
Towers and King Extended: PQ: 5/5, AQ: 5/5
This set has so many extras, it's not even funny.
Extras: 5/5
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Colombia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
India
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
A psychic/con artist/crazy lady convinces her pushover husband to kidnap a rich little girl in order to gain money and publicity. Kim Stanley delivers an absolute tour de force performance. She may have lost to Julie Andrews' iconic Mary Poppins that year, but her work here is, without a doubt, one of the most flawless by any actress. Richard Attenborough is just as great, playing his role in a more subtle and understated manner. The direction, the cinematography 
, the writing, the score... It's just an all-around outstanding effort. One of the finest crime thrillers ever put on film. I see Criterion owns this title... Criterion, please release this work of art on blu-ray soon. 
A new favorite.
Linear Mode
