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The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King (Widescreen Edition)

The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King (Widescreen Edition)

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $14.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Utter sell-out trash. See The Frighteners instead!
Review: The Frighteners was an amazing work, and it appears that Peter Jackson has just given up and decided to do this Star Wars kind of garbage. This movie had some good parts; Liv Tyler especially brought some humanity and emotion to her role, and the final 45 minutes actually had some good acting but otherwise this is your average special effects wasteland with very few interesting or original ideas.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Simply Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Anything I say couldn't do this movie justice. LOTR is simply the BEST movie trilogy I've seen, and this one's a great conclusion to it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent conclusion
Review: Definitely worth the wait, "Return" is a majestic film that stays true to its themes and characters while ramping up the action and visuals. In "Fellowship", the band of hobbits, dwarves, men and elves journey across the wild lands of middle-earth in a quest to destroy the "One Ring" of the monstrous Sauron. As the existence of the ring and of Sauron are intertwined, Sauron cannot be destroyed until the ring itself is destroyed - and only the in volcanic fires in which it was created, in Mount Doom deep within Sauron's homeland of Mordor, can the ring be destroyed. With the existence and possession of the ring at stake, and with the resurgence of Sauron, huge armies grow across middle-earth. Vile Orcs and twisted Uruk Hai battle men, dwarves and elves. (The clash is also one of themes - greed for the ring's power against hope for hope's sake.) In "Towers", the Hobbits Frodo and Sam proceed into Mordor alone, while the remainder of the Fellowship - led by Aragorn, a distant descendant of the Kings of Gondor, rides to the rescue of Rohan - a kingdom under siege by Uruk Hai allied to the forces of darkness. While Rohan survived, the much larger and critical kingdom of Gondor faces siege by even more implacable forces of evil in "Return of the King". While Gondor is encircled by an army of Orcs and men in league with them, Frodo and Sam move deeper into Mordor, led by Gollum. Once a being little different from the Hobbits, centuries of life with the ring have reduced Gollum into a hideous gnomish thing whose thoughts go little further than the One Ring. (In "Towers", we learnt that Gollum had a good side, but events and the suspicions of Sam have suppressed it; By "King" he is determined to betray the Hobbits and reclaim the One Ring. Though Tolkien wrote of Gollum's origins early in "Fellowship", Director Peter Jackson saves it for "King" and to good effect). From the depths of Mordor to the walls of Minas Tirith in Gondor, the war locks men, orcs and wizards in a desperate struggle for the survival of Middle Earth.

This was a fantastic movie, in just about every way. Though it's epic in scale, "King" never goes far without exploring the strains of the adventure on the individual characters - we see the anguish of Gandalf who finally realizes the certainty of Frodo's doom; of Aragorn's doubts of men's courage and his capacity to rule them; of Sam and Frodo's devotion to each other - and especially of Gollum who wanted nothing more than the One Ring. The script also elevates characters that it could have easily left on the side and ignored - Theoden and Eowyn of Rohan come to mind, as well as Pippin and Merry's - who began the trilogy as comic relief. Though obviously CGI, the battle sequences achieve a sort of super-naturalistic, all enveloping fidelity - in which swarms of men battle monster-elephant things carrying hordes of enemy troops (this is what Lucas was shooting for when he tried to invade Hoth in "Empire"). You can't believe those monster elephants are real, though when they attack, you won't be able to ignore their hoof beats. The sequencing of the action shots, and their ability to maintain a consistent POV through characters that would other be lost in the mess elevate "King" over the newer "Star Wars" movies. If "King" gets a bit long in the end, and edges towards sentimentality, it's earned that. At over three hours long, "King" is scarcely a minute too long.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What if there are more heroically tragic?
Review: Return of the King is the final chapter of the Lord of the Ring trilogy which I think is the best of three movies. This movie is way too intense so that three and half hour is not enough. Peter Jackson is 100% loyality to the book, but I think there is something "miss" in the movie and the book. The end is too dramatic, because the fellowship only has one loss (Boromir). The other eight are survive. I always wonder why make the Fellowship of the Ring movie is so successful. The one main reason is when Gandalf falls into the shawdow and Boromir's death scene. Everybody can feel the emotion and grief in it. And that's make me wonder what if Merry's sacrifice at the Battle of the Pelennor Field? Pippen's sacrifice for save Gandalf or Aragon at battle of Blackgate? And even Frodo falls into the Mount Doom with Gullom?(because I don't believe you can grip something when you fight someone and falls). Then let Sam survive. Really, the end of the LOTR book is too perfect for 50's to 80's, but it looks too dramatic at modern day.
For these of us who had read the LOTR books know that Sauron has 500,000 strong army, but men (Gonder and Rohan) only have less than 40,000 army. So when they have confrontation, you can't have all 6 main characters (Gandalf, Aragon, Gimli, Legolas, Pippen, Merry) survive from all three tough battle like siege of Gondor, Pelennor Field and Blackgate. Because people will not feel how tough and how important these battles are for main characters only if minor soliders died. Even King Theodon's death can't make a difference.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: How many times must it be said?
Review: RotK is wonderful! I've read some of the reviews and it seems like some ppl still think that lotr is a copy of star wars. Lord of the Rings is a book written in the early 1900s!!! Star wars was made in the 70s! The makers of Harry Potter, Star Wars, ect. got some of their ideas from J.R.R Tolkiens Lord of the RIngs. Duh.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: short but sweet review...so you can read the others!
Review: It never fails to amaze me how well Fellowship, Two Towers and Return of the King fit together, yet each has their own pace, style and flavor.

The movie is AMAZING. 100s of reviews atest to that. So the question - are you rabid enough you cannot wait until the extended version? Okay, I am, so I preordered this. I will buy the extended version too, because as long as this movie is it does not begin to handle everything. If you would never watch the expected 5 hour version, go for this copy. Regular screen you LOSE TOO MUCH of the movie lopped off the sides.

All those of you who get this and intend to get the extended version as I shall - there is coupon to get bucks back so don't lose that.

Simply amazing to put all three movies on and let them runs one right after another.

Brilliance, magic, a century from now the power will still be there! This is the Gone With the Wind, Wizard of Oz and Star Wars of our era. Long may it reign!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "THE GREAT BATTLE FOR OUR TIME..."
Review: "The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King" is what seeing movies is all about. The big-budget visual effects and in-your-face battle scenes don't gloss over the story. The actors give their all for this one, and it shows. It's a shame that the Academy looked over this film in the acting category (Especially Sean Astin, whose potrayal of Samwise Gamgee was just incredible).

The two-disc DVD version presents the entire 200-minute film on one disc with amazing picture and excellent sound. The second disc presents some amazing extras, including the "National Geographic Beyond the Movie" special, which compares the events and people of the films to real life heroes and events. The Trilogy Supertrailer would be more than worth the second disc alone.

"The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King" is the final installment of the greatest film trilogy in movie history. You don't wanna miss owning this (Unless your waiting four the extended four-disc set, of course)!
Movie Grade: A+
DVD Grade: A+
Overall Grade: A+

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Tolkien must be smiling
Review: I can't imagine that J.R.R. Tolkien would not be happy with this translation of his book. Peter Jackson has done a magnificent job of making the books come to life. This last installment of the Trilogy was incredible in scope and action. The director smoothly transitioned us back and forth between Frodo and Samwise's incredible trek to destroy the ring at Mount Doom and the fight of Arogorn for his throne and the destruction of Sauron. The battle scenes were unbelievable. The special effects were great. The number and types of creatures filled one with awe. The acting, scenery, sets, music, and all facets of this film are magnificent. I loved it all. The softer ending with Sam's writing the final chapter of "There and Back Again" made it a little easier to come to the final conclusion that we all hate to see. I and many others I'm sure wish it would never end. I hope that Peter Jackson will seriously consider doing a movie of "The Hobbit". He certainly has the knack for putting Tolkien's words to film. This 2 DVD set quality is as good as it gets. It includes many extras along with the standard commentaries and documentary to many details of the making of it. Any fan of the other two movies will love it and anyone not familiar with these movies will enjoy them if they enjoy fantasy movies like "Ladyhawke" and "Dragonheart".

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I never thought I would like this saga.........was I wrong!
Review: I must have bought the first volume of LOTR a couple of years back and never saw it until I could purchase the last and current DVD. I can tell you I thought it would be hopelessly bloated. It was a surprise when the story came together and we see the main character attempting to destroy the evil ring.

I never thought I would enjoy these films so much.

This comes from a person who never read the books or cared for the fantasy genre.

If you like science fiction and fantasy....This is the saga that inspired them all...there is no comparison...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Epic fantasy done right.
Review: After having fight for my seat, I sat down with a large bag of popcorn and a larger still soft drink to watch the conclusion to The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, The Return Of The King. I had purposely waited weeks after the film's opening to try and avoid being wrapped up in the massive hype, and did not watch the two preceding movies so as not to be biased by my own stance on the Rings movies and their strengths and faults. I walked into King with as clean a slate as possible, to judge it as fairly as possible as its own movie.

With this film, director Peter Jackson returns with a vengeance and a passion. He holds no quarter in The Return Of The King, and as a result it is the most fantastic experience of the three movies. This is the film I had hoped The Two Towers would be.

Almost everything in this movie is triumphant. Howard Shore's music echoes throughout the room, the visual effects fly near seamlessly across the screen, and the film rises to a new level cinematically with some truly inspired sequences (Faramir's ride over Pippin's singing springing readily to hand). But most importantly, the story and script are stronger than in the last outing; characters like Faramir and Eowyn are no longer one-dimensional cameos, but active participants. While still a bit disjointed (apparently an inevitability when trying to condense such vast material), the movie even longer than its predecessors, and as a result is able to give almost all characters and story elements their due time. The end result is a smoother story arc, and a much more enjoyable movie. The battles manage to both be vast and immediate at the same time, with the camera showing us massive vistas before swooping in on brutal combat. The ruthless authenticity of the fighting in Fellowship is back, and it's magnificent. Jackson also backs off a bit on his unnecessary humor, with the few humorous line timed well. The end result is a much darker film (with Orcs catapulting human heads over city walls, for example), but it is what the film needed to be. The sense of peril in King is genuine when compared to the comic book-like feel of Towers. There are still a few superhero moments (most revolving around Legolas), but they are a bearable balance with the viciously realistic dark side of the movie.

There are a few dents in the King's mighty armor, however. The opening "re-introduction" of Gollum, while a fine scene, is about one movie two late; the scene should have opened Towers, not this film. Also, Christopher Lee's Saruman is completely absent from this picture; his character is very weakly dealt with. Finally, the film's ending simply DRAGS on and on. Scenes that should have been a minute or two are drawn into five or six minute sequences. Also, Jackson fades the screen to black several times. This technique comes quite out of the blue (having never really been used in the trilogy prior to this film), and is both unnecessary and annoying, giving viewers the misguided impression that the saga is over before the screen lights up again for yet another scene.

Still, The Return Of The King is an excellent film. It breaks the rule of the third in a trilogy being the weakest, and ends up not only being the strongest movie sequel ever made, it is the best of Peter Jackson's three Rings movies. While I still stand by my opinion that Edward Zwick's The Last Samurai is the best movie of the year, King is a fine film, and I recommend it whole-heartedly. Violent, romantic, brutal, touching, epic, intimate, it is everything a movie of this kind should be, and well worth the wait.


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