LORD OF THE RINGS, THE: THE RETURN OF THE KING - DVD review

Many fans of Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" project were ecstatic that "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" took home eleven Oscars in March 2004. I was happy to see that the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was willing to give a fantasy movie top honors. Still, given how lukewarm the Academy was to "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers", I couldn't shake the feeling that "LOTR 3" was being rewarded for achieving the kind of box-office success that Hollywood respects as well as for showcasing the kind of technical proficiency that only Hollywood money can buy. After all, the "LOTR" movies received only one Oscar nomination in the acting categories--meaning, the actors' branch, which is the largest in the Academy, did not connect with the actors in "LOTR" and did not find themselves wholly engaged with the story (for acting develops the emotional bonds that viewers feel with movies).

In "LOTR 3", the people of Rohan ride to the aid of the people of Gondor after fending off Saruman's army in "LOTR 2". Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) get closer to dropping Sauron's Great Ring in the fires of Mt. Doom, though Gollum (Andy Serkis) wants the Ring for himself. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) undergoes several trials to prove that he is ready to be the King of Men. Meanwhile, Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys Davies) continue to provide inappropriate moments of humor, and Miranda Otto (as Eowyn, a princess of Rohan) tries her best to bring a touch of the feminine to the whole enterprise despite being dressed in male armor for most of the movie.

Despite my low regard for "LOTR 2", I found myself close to tears several times during "LOTR 3". There are several truly moving moments, and that's impressive considering the size and the loudness of the affair. Faramir's (David Wenham) death charge to Osgiliath is a notable sequence. The sound design removes all vocals/dialogue except for a song being sung without musical accompaniment. Horse hooves and arrows flying through the air are muted, and the elegaic song perfectly reflects Faramir's sadness and desperation.

My main complaint about the movie is that it's longer than it needs to be. Unlike many others, I didn't mind the "multiple endings" because the story needs them in order to be complete. However, did we really need to see Arwen (Liv Tyler) writhing in despair on a bed? Did we really need to see so many prolonged battles? Did the movie need so many scenes set in Rohan before the Rohirrim set out for Gondor? (I mean, wasn't most of "LOTR 2" about Rohan already???)

The Extended Edition of "LOTR 3" really should be called the Distended Edition. While some scenes are nice additions--especially the ones involving Faramir's courtship of Eowyn--most are repetitive, too long, or unnecessary. This is on top of a movie that already had too much flab, and some of the new scenes further Gimli's descent into clown-dom. The interminable battles become oppressive and numbing rather than stirring. Yes, I know--this is an "epic". However, the events in "LOTR" actually take place within a few months, so unlike a long TV miniseries which might cover events that take place during the course of several years, what we see in the "LOTR" movies wind up being drawn-out (just about everything in "LOTR 2") or redundant. I mean, how many times do the good guys have to beat the bad guys? Two or three times are enough to make a point.

Video:
For the most part, the 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen image is free of any print defects. I suspect that the movie may have been transferred from a digital source since so much of the imagery was created in computers anyway. I write this because the image doesn't look as grainy as one would expect of a movie shot with the Super 35 process. However, as clear and clean as it is, the image looks a bit soft sometimes, possibly due to a combination of the amount of CGI in the movie as well as the lack of disc space (a four-hour-plus movie with seven surround-sound audio tracks!).

Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 EX English is thunderous. There are objects flying all over the room for most of the movie's three-plus hours. Music is reproduced well or artfully, as in the aforementioned charge on Osgiliath. Still, the mix is so busy that some audio effects sound a tad muddy. Also, some dialogue gets lost in the shuffle, but that may have been intentional.

The DVD also includes a DTS 6.1 ES track and a DD 2.0 surround English track (for those of you without digital 5.1 set-ups), and optional English and Spanish subtitles as well as optional English closed captions support the audio.

Extras:
The extended version of the film has been spread across the first two DVDs of this set in order to accommodate two full-bodied 5.1 audio tracks and four audio commentary tracks. The remaining extras are found on Discs 3 and 4. Optional English and Spanish subtitles as well as optional English closed captions accompany the video footage on Discs 3 and 4.

The extras on Discs 3 and 4 have been organized into sub-sections, but you can also look at all of the extras in long indices. You can watch the featurettes individually, or you can play them all as long movies. However, there are photo galleries and additional featurettes to experience even if you use the "Play All" function.

--Discs 1 and 2--
The "only" extras on Discs 1 and 2 are the audio commentaries. However, four audio commentaries for a four-hour-plus movie provide a qualitatively different experience with each fresh viewing of the film. You can watch the movie with one audio commentary, or you can switch between the tracks and the primary soundtrack with the audio button.

1) The Director and Writers: As expected, this track covers the overall artistic vision of translating Tolkien's books to the screen. The speakers make some apologies for the changes that they made, but they also explain the necessity of writing for a movie rather than being slavishly faithful to the nuts and bolts of Tolkien lore. Whether or not you entirely buy what they say is a matter of opinion, of course, but Jackson and his writers (Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens) make it known to the world what they had to do.

2) The Design Team: The participants for this commentary detail what they did during the preparation stages. Basically, they had to create the look of Middle-Earth, from the costumes and the sets to the way the complex action sequences would be shot. You can see their developmental work on Discs 3 and 4.

3) The Production/Post-Production Team: Commentary 3 will give you an idea of how the film began to and did take shape.

4) The Cast: Most of the cast members gathered together to record their comments at the same time. Obviously, Commentary 4 provides the most fun since you feel as if you're part of one big group hug.

--Disc 3--
The extras on Disc 3 deal mainly with the pre-production stage of the project. The titles of the featurettes are basically elf-explanatory, so it's not necessary to discuss them in great detail. Suffice it to say that the featurettes are very thorough, leaving no stone unturned. Since he's all over the place anyway, Peter Jackson filmed an introduction for Disc 3.

--"J.R.R. Tolkien: The Legacy of Middle-earth"

--"From Book to Script: Forging the Final Chapter"

--"Designing Middle-earth"

--"Big-atures"

--"Weta Workshop"

--"Costume Design"

--"Home of the Horse Lords"

--"Abandoned Concept: Aragorn Battles Sauron"

--"Middle-earth Atlas": An interactive map that follows four different groups of characters during their "LOTR 2" journeys.

--"New Zealand as Middle-earth"

Though I did not actually make my own counts of the total number of stills in the galleries, I would not be surprised if Disc 3 had more than a 1,000 pictures alone.

--Disc 4--
The extras on Disc 4 deal mainly with the production (filming) and post-production stages of the project. Once again, the titles of the featurettes are basically self-explanatory, so it's not necessary to discuss them in great detail. The actors who played the hobbits replace Peter Jackson in Disc 4's introductory video segment.

--"Cameras in Middle-earth"

--"Weta Digital"

--"Editorial: Completing the Trilogy"

--"Music for Middle-earth"

--"The Soundscapes of Middle-earth"

--"The End of All Things"

--"The Passing of an Age"

--"Cameron Duncan: The Inspiration for ‘Into the West'"

On Disc 4, you'll also find additional photo galleries as well as multimedia demonstrations of visual effects and other post-production work.

--DVD-ROM--
Those of you with DVD-ROM access can use the weblinks encoded on the DVDs.

--Miscellaneous--
With everything housed in a book-like package, a glossy booklet provides chapter listings and information about the set's bountiful extras. There are also coupons and promos for "LOTR" items, including an empty box for the three EE releases.

Film Value:
I think that "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" is a better installment in the "LOTR" cycle than "The Two Towers", but its length is punishing. What powerful moments it has (Sam carrying Frodo, Viggo Mortensen's excellent performance, everyone bowing to the hobbits) are separated by interminable battles, interesting but unnecessary asides, and cheap, crowd-pleasing elements (the way that the Witch King is defeated). I still like "The Fellowship of the Ring" much more than its "sequels" because it is about much more than just fights and badly-done jokes.

By the way, notice how my complaints are about what was shown, not what I thought should have been shown (which would've been unfair to the movie). :-)

Easter Egg Alert:
Disc 1--Go to the Scene Selections menus, and highlight the horizontal picture of the last chapter on Disc 1. Press down on your remote control's direction pad to highlight a ring icon. Click on the ring icon to watch a gag interview with Elijah Wood conducted by Dominica Monaghan.

Disc 2--Go to the Scene Selections menus, and highlight the horizontal picture of the last chapter on Disc 2. Press down on your remote control's direction pad to highlight a ring icon. Click on the ring icon to watch a skit that played during the 2004 MTV Movie Awards.

Discs 3 and 4--Go to the Main Menu, and move the menu cursor to the circle icon at the bottom of the page. Click on the icon to access the DVDs' production credits.