00s Movie Review - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Director: Peter Jackson
Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy
Runtime: 201 minutes
Year: 2003
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortenson, Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Hugo Weaving, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monoghan, Christopher Lee, John Rhys-Davies, Andy Serkis, Miranda Otto, Karl Urban, David Wenham, Ian Holm, John Noble

Description: Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) lead the World of Men against Sauron’s army to draw his gaze from Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.

Review: People said the books were impossible to turn into film. Well, they were wrong. Director Peter Jackson managed to translate Tolkien’s work to film, in what is probably the most ambitious and bravest film project in movie history.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” starts with a prologue, where we see how Smeagol became Gollum. How the ring changed him. The Fellowship is still broken. Frodo and Sam are lead to Mordor by Gollum, while Gandalf hurries to Minas Tirith with Pippin. Merry stays behind with King Theodon and Eowyn. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli take the Path of Death, to recruit an unearthly army. We follow all those different storylines, before the final battle for Middle Earth starts.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” is a dark film, filled with war and misery. You finally understand the immense power the ring has and then there is also the threat of Sauron.
Peter Jackson made Middle Earth look as impressive as it is. It amazes me how much work and love had to be put into this project. The Orcs, the elephant like creatures, spider Shelob, it all looks scary and fantastic.
The love triangle between Aragorn, Arwen and Eowyn doesn’t manage to convince. The scenes feel forced and take away the attention from the actual events. Thankfully there are only a few scenes, so it doesn’t bother me that much.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” is a fantastic film, a great end to an amazing trilogy.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

00s Movie Review - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Director: Peter Jackson
Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy
Runtime: 179 minutes
Year: 2002
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortenson, Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Hugo Weaving, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monoghan, Christopher Lee, John Rhys-Davies, Andy Serkis, Miranda Otto, Karl Urban, David Wenham

Description: While Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) adge closer to Mordor with the help of the shifty Gollum (Andy Serkis), the divided fellowship makes a stand against Sauron’s new ally, Saruman (Christopher Lee), and his hordes of Isengard.

Review: In “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” we saw how the fellowship was split in groups. In “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” we see all those separate groups on their journey. There is Frodo and Sam. By foot they have to bring the ring to Mordor. Frodo feels the power of the ring more and more, but het gets help from Sam and the shifty creature Gollum. Gollum knows he has to help the Hobbits, else the ring will fall into the hands of Sauron.
Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli can’t help Frodo and Sam anymore, so they decide to go on a rescue mission for the other two Hobbits Merry and Pippin. They have been taken by the Uruk-Hai.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” is again an amazing adventure. And close to being a masterpiece. The film doesn’t have the buildup like the first film. This is of course because it’s the middle part of the series. But it does have some great fight scenes, like the battle of Helm’s Deep. It looks spectacular and is exciting. I didn’t like the romance part of the film, the scenes between Arwen and Aragorn feel a bit unnecessary.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” is a good film, although probably my least favorite of the franchise.

Rating: 4/ 5

00s Movie Review - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Director: Peter Jackson
Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy
Runtime: 178 minutes
Year: 2001
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortenson, Orlando Bloom, Sean Bean, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Hugo Weaving, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monoghan, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, John Rhys-Davies

Description: A meek Hobbit (Elijah Wood) from the Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to destroy the powerful One Ring and save Middle-Earth from the Dark Lord Sauron.

Review: “The Lord of the Rings” is an adaptation from the world wide popular fantasy book by J.R.R. Tolkien. Director Peter Jackson took on the challenge to direct this series, starting with “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”.
In a prologue we are introduced to The Ring, who Saurn was and how that ring eventually got into the hands of a Hobbit in The Shire. That’s also the place where the story starts off, in The Shire.
The reason why people like this franchise so much is of course the fantasy genre, but also the relatable characters and their emotions. The characters are three-dimensional, have depth and you feel connected with them. Look at Gandalf, a man that laughs sometimes, is grumpy at times, is hard to understand and also makes mistakes. Perfectly portrayed by Ian McKellen.
The actors and makers of the film handle the source material as if it was our actual history. That’s how Tolkien did it, that’s how they did it. And everything looks perfect, up to the smallest details. It’s all authentic.
It’s hard not to get sucked into this fantastical world that Tolkien once created and Jackson brought to life. The Orcs are really scary, the eater monster with tentacles though only in it for a brief moment gives you the chills and Balrog looks fantastic. It’s visible that Peter Jackson has a love for movie monsters.
The action is phenomenal. The film starts off quiet and peaceful, but there are a lot of nail biting battles ahead. And they are all filmed brilliantly.
The drama and the emotions really grab you. You would think that fairytale like creatures like wizards and Hobbits wouldn’t do that, but they all become unforgettable characters that you care about.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” was the start of the entire adventure and it had to convince the fans. It definitely did that!

Rating: 5/ 5