Rate Return of the King

[Desdichado]

I rated a 9 -- it would've been 10, but again my poor backside couldn't handle the total running time.

Getting an aisle seat next time to stretch out periodically

Wow, I totally didn't notice. I didn't have to go to the bathroom once during the movie; I didn't feel cramped in my legs; nothing. And generally I'm pretty bad about both of those and long spells of sitting.

 

[barsoomcore]

If only I'd heard Eowyn laugh and say, "But no man am I!" it would have been a 10. As such, it is a 9.

If she'd ALSO said, "Begone, foul dwimmerlaik!" it would have gone up to 11.

I'm surprised that I didn't miss the Scouring. Given how I've been complaining that Scouring isn't in the film for the past three years, it feels weird to not be upset about it.

 

[Desdichado]

If she'd ALSO said, "Begone, foul dwimmerlaik!" it would have gone up to 11.

Dude. One of my favorite lines ever written.

 

[Kanegrundar]

I watched it at the late show last night and I was simply stunned. It was a beautiful movie and IMO the best in the series. Sure, there were many things that were changed from the books, but expecting a movie interpretation to be true to every word in a book is unrealistic in the extreme especially dealing with a book series of this length and magnitude. I loved every single second of RotK just as I did with the rest of the series. There were a couple scenes in which I had to wipe tears from my eyes. That's something that simply doesn't happen to me unless I'm watching Old Yeller or E.T.

I'm going back to watch it at least 2 more times before it leaves the local theatre.

I give it a very enthusiastic 10.

Kane

 

[Krug]

After 109 votes, an average rating of 9.06.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

(bumping this up)

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

It's a 9. I still need some room to rate movies such as The Godfather Part II, so it can't be a 10, right?

 

[thalmin]

Having seen RotK a second time (only 2, the downside of working retail at this time of the year) I wish to change my vote. I gave it a 10 the first time around. That's not high enough. It's at least a 12. Sorry, MM, I don't need room for anything else. I was even more moved the second time.

Thank you Peter Jackson and company for the wonderful Christmas present.

 

[Sir Whiskers]

...PJ sometimes thinks he is too smart for his own good.

That's the only reason I don't rate any of the movies above 6-7. The sets are spectacular. The clothing and accessories perfect. The actors ideal for their roles. But...

While I understand that some changes had to be made because of the different medium (film vs. book), I can't help being irritated everytime PJ and company changed the story just because. Apparently they thought they could rewrite entire sections of the story better than Tolkien did. And they did this throughout the trilogy:

the battle between Gandalf and Saruman
the entire Arwen subplot
Helm's Deep (Theoden supposedly led his people into a trap there, from which Aragorn had to save them, the elves)
Aragorn supposedly dying before Helm's Deep
Faramir trying to take Frodo and the Ring to his father
Frodo sending Sam away because Gollum tricked him
Merry and Pippen tricking Treebeard into fighting Saruman
Elrond sending Aragorn to the Paths of the Dead

And so on, and so on...

Don't get me wrong, PJ made some very good changes, some for brevity (no Tom Bombadil), some for pacing (very few flashbacks, of which Tolkien was very fond). I felt the final movie did an outstanding job of integrating Frodo's quest with the events at Minas Tirith. Those changes were necessary to bring the trilogy to the big screen and I give him kudos for being willing to do so.

But anytime a director, producer, writer, etc. takes a classic work and says to himself, "Gee, I can do much better..." I groan. Though the whole bit with Arwen was the worst example, all three movies have scenes dramatically altered from the books. It's a pity the makers of the movie felt it necessary to "improve" upon the original.

As someone else has said, the movie trilogy is very good. It just isn't a very good adaptation of Tolkien's work.

 

[Bass Puppet]

I gave it an 8, but I still have to see it again.

The reasons are, that when I read the books, I don't feel the cheese forcing it'self down my throat. It's more tongue and cheek cheese, if that makes any sense. For instance, when Aargon told the hobbits that they didn't need to bow to anybody, that was a slice of chedder and I got a little misty-eyed. When Frodo wakes up in bed and everybody made their grand appearance in the doorway to greet him. Man, it was like swimming in Mozzarella. It seemed to me the acting got worse (not by much, but noticable) as the story got closer to the end. Great Movie though and I can't wait for the EE.