11 Academy Awards nominations for the LOTR trilogy. Following are the categories.
- Best Picture
- Best Director
- Sound
- Visual Effects
- Adapted Screenplay
- Art Direction
- Costume Design
- Film Editing
- Makeup
- Original Score
- Original Song/Film Theme
HollywoodReporter.com on the LOTR: The Return of The King
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Legolas the elf, Gandalf the wizard and Aragorn, heir of Isildur, return for the final installment of New Line Cinema’s adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “The Return of the King.”
NEW YORK – An epic success and a history-making production that finishes with a masterfully entertaining final installment, New Line Cinema’s adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” is a soaring legend in its own day and destined to be cherished for many ages to come. “The Return of the King” is the longest and most complicated of the three “Rings” films and probably fated to be the biggest moneymaker. Sure to be an Oscar contender in many categories and a breathtaking argument for director Peter Jackson winning every award there is to give, “King” has none of the usual deficiencies that frequently scuttle third films.
Opening unexpectedly with a flashback to the day when the twisted Gollum was a healthy Hobbit-like fisherman named Smeagol (Andy Serkis), who commits murder to possess the powerful One Ring, “King” deftly resumes the story after the events of “The Two Towers.” After a brief encounter with the talking lord of the forest Treebeard (voiced by John Rhys-Davies), Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Theoden (Bernard Hill) and other survivors of the Battle of Helm’s Deep go to ravished Isengard. Within minutes, we’re reintroduced to the many characters, including Hobbits Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd), Rohan fighters Eomer (Karl Urban) and Eowyn (Miranda Otto), Faramir (David Wenham) of Gondor and the one new human character, Denethor (John Noble), the Steward of Minas Tirith, site of the next great showdown between the mighty forces of evil Sauron and the free peoples of Middle Earth.
Frodo and Sam (Elijah Wood and Sean Astin), guided by the vengeful Gollum (again a wondrous combination of special effects and Serkis’ inspired performance), finally enter Mordor, but the divisive influence of the Ring almost ends the fellowship of the two heroic Hobbits. When the three infiltrators pass by Minas Morgul (the dead city where the Nazgul reside), they watch another army of Sauron march to battle under the command of the Witch-king.
Eventually, this Black Captain of the Nazgul, who rides one of the dragonlike beasts first seen in “Towers,” has a fight with Eowyn and Merry in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, outside the walls of Minas Tirith, that readers have been waiting decades to see. It’s a gloriously crowd-pleasing moment, while overall the lengthy siege is tremendously exciting and visually unparalleled.
Huge elephantlike Mumakil and trolls pushing the giant battering ram known as Grond join hordes of Orcs in a gargantuan assault on Minas Tirith, a fight which faithless Denethor turns away from when he gives into fear and fatherly pride by sending Faramir to certain death. It’s the leadership-tested Gandalf (Ian McKellen) who commands the defense of the city. Although Denethor comes off too as enigmatic compared to the original material, he sure has a spectacular final scene.
Jackson and co-writers Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh make noteworthy departures from Tolkien, including such crucial moments as what happens when Frodo is finally standing on a ledge over the Crack of Doom inside the volcano where the ring must be destroyed, and how Aragorn makes use of the Army of the Dead that only he can command. Whole swaths of the book have been condensed and eliminated, but Jackson and company usually realize splendidly whatever they take on.
There are only brief moments with the saga’s Elvish beauties: Arwen (Liv Tyler) refuses to abandon Aragorn. Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) makes a crucial connection with Frodo near the story’s climax. Dwarf fighter Gimli (Rhys-Davies) provides much-appreciated humor with his sarcastic remarks. Fearless Elf bowman Legolas (Orlando Bloom) delivers the best battlefield action, while wise Elrond (Hugo Weaving) provides Aragorn with the restored sword that defeated Sauron long ago.
The thunderous conclusion to the story of the Ring that includes the end of Frodo’s journey and the battle outside the Black Gate winds down to a sublime denouement, leaving only 20 minutes to wrap up when Tolkien took a hundred pages. The extended DVD should bind “King” and the other two films into one awesome movie deserving of regular revivals in theaters. But who can resist right now a classic fantasy adventure that never drags and is simply ravishing to look at thanks to the thousands of craftsmen, performers, animals and postproduction refiners?