I was one of the lucky few who got to see the first day first show of Lord Of the Rings: Return of the King in India, when it released on the 6th of february.
We (myself and a pal) went to the IMAX Adlabs at Wadala in Central Mumbai. I wasn’t expecting a huge crowd usually seen for first shows in Hindi movies, but was pleasently surprised that the theatre was filled. The advertisaing for this movie in the papers and on the TV was pathetic, not many advertisements at all and I hadn’t seen the trailer on many of the major channels.
Anyways, as the movie started and the by-now-familiar New Line logo flashed, the hall went quiet. The opening scenes with Smeagol/ Deagol were simply stunning and took me by surprise, and the transition from Smeagol to Gollum was also very slickly done!
The scene with Frodo, Sam and Gollum in the Morgul Vale were also very well done, with the Witch King being very scary and impressive indeed!
Peter Jackson also handled the scene with the Lembas and Gollum very well to show how Gollum drives a wedge in the relationship between Sam and Frodo.
Elijah Wood in his portrayal of Frodo throughout the trilogy has been very, very convincng and it was a shocker to me as to how he wasnt nominated for an Oscar. He conveys the weight of the ring on his neck very, very well and is very good with the moments of madness, (Eg: in TTT when he draws Sting on Sam).
One thing I wasn’t impressed with was the handling of the entire Denethor-Faramir relationship, as Denethor was shown to be a (pardon y French) Dumba$$, which he was’nt! He had the wisdom and the mental powers to control the Palantir and see through it, not many could do it.
The only scene between the 2 that was very touching was whenh Faramir asks his father if he would have liked Boromir to be alive and Faramir to be be dead, and Denethor, very very coldly answers, yes.
The scene that follows where Pippin sings a song interspersed with Faramir charging Osgiliath are a masterpiece, very moving indeed!
Aragorn really comes to the fore in this movie, in my opinion, taking over some of Legolas’ and Gimli’s screen space and really shines as the reluctant king.
Whenever I see Hugo Weaving on screen, I am reminded of his now immortal line, ’’ So, Mr. Andersen’’, from the Matrix trilogies. But I wasnt, when I saw him in long hair playing father to the future queen of Men, Arwen’’(Liv Tyler, looking gorgeous). The father daughter scebnes(altho’ wholly un-necessary) add a new dimension to the movies.
The battle scenes are just truly breath-taking and prolly the best EVER. Going for the movie just for the eye-candy makes it paisa vasool(Mumbai slang for worth the moolah).
The pre-battle speeches are very goose-bump creating experiences, with the best being tehe Rohirrim, chanting ’Death, Death....!!’ and Aragorn, saying ’For Frodo’ and heading the Armies of Gondor and Rohan into the final battle.
Shelob is very menacing and Sam(Sean Astin) is brilliant and a supporting Actor nomination was cheated off him. Grond, the huge battering ram ad the associated chants of ’Grond, Grond..’ are very death-dance like.
The score, blends in well with the movie, with the track Gray Havens being the best, alongwith Into the West sung by Annie Lennox.
The coronation scenes are well done, with Aragorn’s speech being a bit weak. Arwen looks hot in the end, and Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), is a shoo-in for the sexiest man alive poll in People magazine.
The effects of Minas Tirith are stunning and special mention for Miranda Otto, as Eowyn, the women sitting nexct to me were cheering loudly whe she says ’ I am not a man’ and smotes the Witch King!
I liked the ending, as you HAD to tie up loose ends and ppl who complained about the ending have NOT read/ absorbed the bok and its contents. It was necessary adn done just about right by Peter Jackson.
All in all, 5 very well deserved stars, am going to see it again!!