My top 30 films - No.8

8. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) - "There can be no triumph without loss. No victory without suffering. No freedom without sacrifice."
For a long time, this was my favourite film and for ages I didn't want to admit that there were any films better that it. Now, I will admit it but this was a fantastic film. It is the final film in Peter Jackson's trilogy and the final book in J.R.R. Tolkein's saga.
This brief description is working on the theory that you know what happens in the previous two films and the books. If you don't, where have you been?
Frodo (Elijah Wood (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)) and Sam (Sean Astin) are getting closer to Mordor, where they hope to finally destroy the One Ring. However, Gollum (Andy Serkis (King Kong, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll)) plans to steal the Ring from them by leading them to Shelob's Lair. Whilst that is happening, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen (A History of Violence, Eastern Promises and The Road)) has decided to become king of Gondor, as the heir of Isildur. However, before he can do that, he, Legolas (Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean)) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) must take the Pathes of the Dead, in order to summon the Army of the Dead to the aid of Gondor. To aid him, Aragorn is given the re-forged sword of Elendil, which is the one weapon Sauron fears the most. However, he is told by Elrond (Hugo Weaving (The Matrix)) that Arwen (Liv Tyler (Armageddon)) is dying, as she would rather lead a mortal life than go with the elves to leave Middle Earth. Gondor comes under attack from the armies of Sauron, so Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellan (X-Men and The Da Vinci Code)) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) travel to Minas Tirith to aid the city and Merry (Dominic Monaghan) rides with the Riders of Rohan.
One of the issues with the Lord of the Rings films I always found was which parts from the books to include. For instance, The Fellowship of the Ring doesn't include the encounter with Tom Bombadil and Frodo and Sam do leave the Shire more hastily than they do in the book. It ends at a point similar to the book. The Two Towers features a lot more in the book than it does the film, mainly because the film is dominated by the scenes in Rohan and the battle of Helm's Deep. It does drag on therefore, even though it does look spectacular. Therefore, a lot of what happens in The Two Towers book is carried over into The Return of The King film. This includes Pippin's encounter with the Palantir, the Pathes of the Dead and Shelob's Lair. However, one major chapter from the book which isn't included in the film is The Scouring of the Shire, which does feature Saruman  (Christopher Lee (The Wicker Man)) and Grima Wormtongue (Brad Dourif (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)). Both of them do feature in the extended version of the film, however early on.
Like Schindler's List, I always get a lump in my throat whenever I watch The Return of The King. There are a couple of sequences in particular and I'm sure that others would agree with me about them. The very end of the film is one and the other is when Frodo is near the point of giving up all hope and Sam says to "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you". The relationship between Frodo and Sam is one of the key parts of the trilogy. In the film, though not in the book, Gollum tries to turn Frodo against Sam, telling him he can't trust him. Frodo tells Sam to go home, but he doesn't. All the hobbits change in some way throughout the trilogy, but Sam is the one who for me changes the most. He becomes more confident and more determined to help Frodo; he is so much more than Frodo's gardener. As the tagline suggests, victory is possible, yet there is a sense of mortality and self-sacrifice as well.
Another spectacular part of the films are the visual effects. They seemed to get bigger and better as the films went on, especially the siege on  Minas Tirith. It was also used for the larger creatures, such as trolls and the Mumakil. The best visual effect, however, was Gollum. Andy Serkis would start by shooting the scene on set with Elijah Wood and Sean Astin, whilst wearing what looked like a wet suit, and then in the studio they would use motion-tracking, which would also capture the facial movements. Finally, they would add the voice, which was inspired by cats and the noise they make when they cough up furballs. It was ground-breaking at the time and Andy Serkis is a pioneer of this system. He has also used in King Kong and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Correct me if I am wrong, but some critics wanted Serkis nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards. He was rejected because there were thoughts some of his movements were too dependent on CGI. It's a real shame, because it was an award winning performance.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy was nominated for 30 Academy Awards and won 17 of them. The Return of the King won all 11 categories that it was nominated for. The only other films ever to win 11 Academy Awards are Ben Hur and Titanic. Peter Jackson's films not only appealed to fans of the books, but also inspired a new group of readers. The demand/popularity of books by J.R.R Tolkein has increased dramatically thanks to Jackson's films. It also most likely helped the New Zealand tourist industry, with people coming to sites that were used as locations for the film. They do look stunning. Me and my family went in the summer of 2003 and we visited a number of locations, including a farm outside Matamata, where they filmed Hobbiton. Part of Mordor is actually a ski resort.
As you may also know, later this year Jackson along with Guillermo del Toro are releasing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, with the second part There and Back Again released the following year. If you don't know (shame on you), it is the prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy and tells how Bilbo Baggins originally found the Ring. It stars Martin Freeman (The Office) as Bilbo Baggins and will also feature Richard Armitage (Robin Hood and Spooks), Aidan Turner (Being Human), Stephen Fry (QI) and the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) as Smaug. However, the best thing I think is the fact, where necessary, they have recalled some of the original actors, including Sir Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis. It is perhaps the film I am most looking forward to seeing this year. No pressure then...
N.B. The Return of the King also holds the record for having the longest end credits for a film - nine minutes...