The Return Of The King

Rating:
Summary: Revolting
Review: This children's cartoon by Rankin & Bass simply reeks of their hoard of former animated creations for the Holidays. There is little semblence to Tolkien's adult novel, "The Return Of The King" in this cartoon adaption. The voice talent is absolutely horrendous; the animation is childish.

A good pre-schooler primer to the world of Tokien, but not for the mature Tolkien fan.

Rating:
Summary: Glad Rankin/Bass finished it and not Bakshi!
Review: Rankin/Bass had one hour and 30 minutes to fit a 450 page novel into a cartoon, and they did it a heck of a lot better than Bakshi would have done. While "The Return of the King" flows somewhat smoothly, Bakshi bumbled and fumbled his way through "The Fellowship of the Ring" and the first half of "The Two Towers", and he had over two and a half hours to do it in! Don't listen to the critics. The film is a reasonable attempt at the impossible. For those of you wanting closure from Bakhi's monstrosity, you'll definitely want to check this out.

The DVD, on the other hand, leaves much to be desired. The "Special Features" consist of a two line biography on Tolkien and some worthless production notes. The quality also isn't that great - the picture has improved from the VHS version, but there are many instances when the sound will splutter or simply blank out altogether. Unless you're dying to watch the movie on your computer, the VHS is probably a better bet. Either way, Tolkien fans definitely have to check this one out!

Rating:
Summary: Almost good
Review: I enjoyed the music in this movie, The animation is good, but they do not follow the story line to well. I mean, What happend to aragon in the land of the dead?!? Where are the houses of healing?!? What about the scourging of the shire?!? Sauromon is not in the movie at all! I did enjoy this movie but I would not sugjest it unless you have read the book.

Rating:
Summary: A must buy for Tolkien Fans
Review: Overall, I liked all three of the DVD's for Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (also, including the prequel, The Hobbit). I did find one misprint on the DVD box of The Return of the King though; the scene index on the inside cover for The Return of the King is that of The Lord of the Rings. How interesting is that? Anyway, the scene selection option in the main menu does show the correct scene names.
By the way, you should buy this DVD...

Rating:
Summary: Return for Deposit
Review: This unfulfilling animated feature takes up in the middle of nowhere as the last entity in 3 movies that make up the HOBBIT/ LORD OF THE RINGS movie series. With the exception of the HOBBIT, the story structures do not take well to cinema as the structure would have to be discarded to have a Hollywood story. Otherwise, you just get a mishmash of ideas. And that is result. All three films were questionable in areas, THE HOBBIT in its crude movement animation and elementary level songs; LORD OF THE RINGS with its boring character design and overuse of 'live action' tracing and now THE RETURN OF THE KING with its weak story structure and a boring sense of adventure. this is the worst of them all even though it bares a strong resemblance to the original HOBBIT movie. Lets hope that the live action films deliver better.

Rating:
Summary: Very, very enjoyable adaptation.
Review: Sure, it has weaknesses. How could it not, when trying to wrap up the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy. There is way too much even in a single book of the Trilogy to easily fit it all in or do it justice.

It's a personal judgement call, to be sure, but I found the story choices that Rankin/Bass made (what to put in and what to leave out) adequate.

What I find most enjoyable about it (and The Hobbit even more so) is the overall visual and musical style. It is simple but visually intersting. Stylistically they capture the feel of the characters and villians. They even manage to inject a little humor which the book actually has (although sparse in the final book) -- it's a bit silly, but I'm especially fond of "Where there's a whip, there's a way."

I found the acting wonderful, especially Roddy MacDowell as Samwise and of course John Huston as Gandalf. The portrayal of Samwise is spot-on with the right mixture, I think, of courage versus fear, humility versus confidence and strength of will versus weakness.

I like The Hobbit better, but I really enjoy watching Return of the King to this day (and I've seen it TONS of times).

Rating:
Summary: 'who is this darklord who turns sunless days...
Review: ...into starless nights, adding up the minutes to no passing hour?' - beautifully delivered by Huston as Gandolf.

this isn't a very complete movie but does a credible job trying to complete the story started by Bashi's animated Lord of the Rings. it is no easy task and the movie needed to take some liberaties to this effect so don't expect a direct translation.

McDowell was very good as Samwise but Huston was outstanding; i really applaud the direction this movie took in using Gandolf as the narrative voice. this decision i feel most made the movie enjoyable.

the whimsical animation styling that worked well in the Hobbit is less effective here but the same care given to the characters and the background art is clearly evident. the songs by Glen Yarborough that are based mostly from the book in the Hobbit are given more liberty and seems a bit too intrusive and dated here, although, i thought well of the initial 'telling' of the background by the ministral.

all in all, given the framework of the storyline that the Rankin/Bass team had to work in, it is a good attempt in telling the final portion of Tolkien's great work.

Rating:
Summary: Lets just say the DVD is better than The Hobbit DVD (Barely)
Review: Ok the only real problem with this DVD is with the inside cover. It has the track listings is for "The Lord of the Rings" DVD movie. The DVD itself is about as good as the VHS tape. While I'm not over joyed with the cover picture, at least all of the audio and sound effects are there. (See "The Hobbit" DVD reviews!) Remember Tolkien fans this is the only "Return of the King" DVD we will have till 2004!~Rob~

Rating:
Summary: hey Pokemon_Digimon!
Review: this is a message for Pokemon Digimon: in "The Return of the King," Bilbo *was* senile and falling asleep all of the time. He was the oldest hobbit ever. Read the books before talking about the movies...

Rating:
Summary: Who needs Willow when you can have Frodo?
Review: Having watched "Return of the King"and"Willow", again,I came to
the conclusion that this film is better than "Willow"(No offense to any "Willow"fans;Remember,this is only a review and these
are only my opinions).Gollum is a villain you love to hate-he's
creepy,sneaky and dispicable;he possesses all the qualities that make him a great villain!Frodo is very brave and loyal,and he fights for what's right!The storyline is good,the scenery is well-done and the songs are good.Who needs nelwyns when you can have Hobbits?