Lording it over the Rings: Part 3 – Kings, Rings and All Good Things

The Return of the King

We come to it at last, the great battle of our time.

Where do you begin with The Return of the King? There is so much going on here, so many disparate and complex threads to be drawn together, so many character journeys figuratively and literally coming to an end. So much huge scope, epic conflicts and intimate emotions. And yet Peter Jackson weaves it all together in to a spellbinding and effortless narrative filled with so many incredible moments, sights, images and instances that it is almost overwhelming. Any one story thread or battle would be enough for just the one movie but here we have five threads – Frodo, Sam and Gollum in Mordor, Gandalf and Pippin at Minas Tirith, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli at the Paths of the Dead and Theoden leading the Rohirrim. And within the Rohirrim there is the separate story of Eowyn and Merry. And everything is now coming to a head. Gollum’s plan to retake the ring and kill the hobbits almost succeeds by his successfully separating Sam from Frodo and then leading Frodo in to the lair of the horrific giant spider Shelob. But he didn’t count on the unswerving loyalty of Samwise the Brave. In many ways Sam is the heart and the real hero of this story. He has no real reason to be on this journey except that he is a good friend and he made a promise. And it is his strength and his determination and his good cheer that makes it possible for Frodo to do what he has to do.

At the same time the armies of men are gathering to go to the aid of Gondor as its capital Minas Tirith is being besieged by tens of thousands of orcs and other nasties from Mordor. But even the large army Theoden and the Rohirrim have managed to assemble won’t be enough for the awesome task at hand. And as usual in this tale all seems hopeless. And it is at this point that another of Tolkien’s eucatastrophies occurs. Lord Elrond arrives with the broken sword Narsil reforged as Andúril – the symbol of kingship for Aragorn and the final sign that he must now accept his destiny as Isildur's heir, the one true king of men. And Aragorn finally does. And to prove it to himself and to the world he goes in to the paths of the dead and does what only the true king of Gondor could do.

The Battle of Pelennor Fields is the great military showdown between the race of men and the forces of Mordor. And it is a huge, wonderful, terrible, thrilling war beginning with the siege of Minas Tirith and then its invasion, which is eventually halted by the arrival of the Rohirrim and their gobsmackingly amazing charge led by King Theoden. But just when the men of Rohan and Gondor think the day is won…the second, even more terrifying wave of enemy forces arrive with the charge of the enormous elephant-like mûmakil. The moment King Theoden first sees them and realises what is happening is fantastic. That almost ‘what the f***k?’ look he gives before he gathers his senses and orders a reformed charge. Pelennor Fields is a stunning battle that lasts for a good portion of the movie but is always broken down in to smaller fights and personal stories within the huge mayhem. The best and most important of these being Eowyn and Merry and their confrontation with the Witch King, the leader of the Nazgul. This comes after the Nazgul sweeps down and plucks Theoden from the ground hurling him through the air to be pinned beneath his dead horse. Eowyn, armoured and helmeted, dives in to protect her king and uncle from the approaching Witch King. They do battle, seemingly one sided and – again - hopeless. The Witch King taunts Eowyn with the old prophecy that: “…no man can kill me!” After Merry distracts the villain with a knife in the leg, Eowyn pulls off her helmet, says, “I am no man” and stabs him in the face, killing him. YEAH!!! That is simply one of THE greatest cheer and punch the air moments in cinema history. What a woman! Of course it is followed by sadness as Theoden dies in her arms but he fulfilled his destiny and did the right thing for his people and the world entire, completing a wonderful character journey in the noblest of ways.

There is so much to talk about and wonder over in this film that I can’t possibly do it all here. But in the end Frodo gets to Mount Doom. And through an act of faith in his hobbit friends, Aragorn leads a last ditch attempt at distracting Sauron in order to give Frodo a chance to succeed in destroying the ring. Aragorn marches an army to the Black Gates and openly challenges the Dark Lord. And as the dread forces of Sauron emerge and surround our smaller army of heroes, the whispered, tender words of Aragorn as he glances back at Gandalf before charging the enemy come forth. “For Frodo.” *Sniff* The distraction works…but not before Frodo finally succumbs to the ring and Gollum tries one last time to take it from him. Both ringbearers, driven mad by its power, wrestle over possession and then tumble over the edge. And Gollum falls to his death happy to be reunited with his precious once more. Eventually, after seeming to threaten not to, the ring finally sinks in the lava of the crack of doom and is destroyed once and for all.

This finale is incredibly powerful and so emotionally charged with all the pieces coming together – chiefly Gollum’s part in the story finally proving to be so crucial. Gandalf always said he had some part to play but didn’t know what. Now we do. For Gollum was fundamental to the ring being destroyed. It was his obsession and love for it that finally made it possible. Like Isildur before, Frodo also fails at the last step and is taken by the ring. And in the end it is both Gollum’s and now Frodo’s blind greed and obsession that leads to the rings end. A moral there if ever I saw one.

The film then goes in to its most controversial stage – the multiple endings. I know these annoyed lots of people at the time. But they never did me. These scenes are crucial. We have invested hours and hours and - at the time of release - three years in this story and these people. We need…we deserve to see them through to their proper ends. Aragorn meets his destiny and is coronated as king and reunited with Arwen. The moment where he says to the hobbits “My friends…you bow to no one.” And then he and everyone else kneel before them just gets me every time. The arrival back in the Shire is important to the story as we have to be reminded what the hobbits have been fighting for, what Frodo ultimately sacrificed himself for. And then we go on to the Grey Havens where the last of the Elves, Bilbo, Gandalf and Frodo will depart Middle Earth for good, sailing for Valinor, the eternal world across the sea. This is where Frodo informs Sam and Merry and Pippin that his life is now over with nothing left for him in this world anymore. It is sad and yet comforting in a way as Frodo hands his story i.e. life to Sam who gets to finish it, to live life as Frodo couldn’t. This is shown perfectly at films end, just as Tolkien did in the book, with Sam arriving back home, back to the unchanged and lovely Shire to be greeted by his wife Rosie and their little children. And it is right there in that perfect moment that this huge millennia spanning saga of good and evil, of war and sacrifice ends with the simplest of happy words from Master Samwise. “Well, I’m back.”

The Return of the King is a powerful, stunning and emotional film and a perfect crowning (pun intended) finale to this story. It is crammed full of incredible moments both huge and tiny. Of images and acts that make you want to cheer and with words and deeds and sacrifices that make you want to shed a tear. It is full of dread and terror and carnage yet also hope and light and love. All the characters shine and the ones we have come to care about get to complete their journeys in the most appropriate and fitting of ways. Technically it is a stupendous effort. The filmmaking talents involved were firing on all cylinders with a special shout out to Howard Shore for his gorgeous trilogy of music that culminated in a well-deserved Oscar. The scale of this production and of the story being told is massive with the siege of Minas Tirith and the Pelennor Fields battle being jaw dropping and ridiculously thrilling. But the telling is truly in the characters and through the timeless themes of friendship, loyalty, helping those in need and never giving in to despair. Of living with the natural world and not trying to control and dominate it, of being stewards of our (middle) earth and not its masters. Similar tales and themes and ideas are ingrained in our collective consciousness and told and retold throughout generations – most recently with Avatar. And as much as I love Avatar, the complexity, the emotional depth and the genius of character and storytelling shown in Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Lord of the Rings is second to none. I can’t wait to see what Jackson and Del Toro give us with The Hobbit.

Here are just some of my favourite moments in this film in no particular order:

The lighting of the beacons - an epic rousing sequence consisting of only visuals and music that ends with Aragorn rushing to tell Theoden that Gondor calls for aid. And Theoden replying “And Rohan will answer.” YES!

Eowyn in disguise grabbing Merry to head to battle

Faramir’s hopeless charge to Osgilieth

Gandalf’s beautiful speech to Pippin about how death is not the end

The Witch King perching on Minas Morgul as the hordes of Sauron begin to march forth

Gandalf riding out to save the surviving Gondorian soldiers with his beacon of light

Aragorn taking Andúril from Elrond

Gimli nudging Legolas’ bow as he fires an arrow at the Corsairs - accidentally killing Peter Jackson

Theoden’s speech to his men and the charge of the Rohirrim – one of the greatest sequences in movie history

Sam vs. Shelob

Theoden sees the second wave approaching

Eowyn vs. the Witch King “I AM NO MAN!”

Faramir’s loving gaze at Eowyn

“For Frodo.”

The surviving Fellowship coming in to Frodo’s room and Frodo’s look as Sam comes in last

“My friends, you bow to no one.”

“We set out to save the Shire, Sam. And it has been saved - but not for me.”

“Well, I’m back.”

And…

The beautiful drawings under the end credits and Annie Lennox’s equally beautiful and fitting closing song ‘In to the West’

Lording it over the Rings: Part 2 - Lots of Horses and a CGI Wretch

The Two Towers


The Two Towers was always my least favourite of the three films. Not because I didn’t think it was great or that I didn’t love it, I did. I think I just missed the simple linear story and the more magical feel of The Fellowship of the Ring. Plus it had one storyline that, frankly, just rather bored me.

The Two Towers is that tricky middle act of a story where you can almost feel as if you are treading water until the big stuff happens later on. This is something Lucas managed to avoid with The Empire Strikes Back, making that the best film of the Star Wars saga. It is something Peter Jackson almost avoids with The Two Towers. What these middle films can do is devote more time to character building and moving story elements in to new and often darker places. And this is what happens here. Basically The Two Towers is a war film. It is a grim story of an attempted genocide against an entire people, the people of Rohan by the industrialised forces of Isengard. It is a story of the destruction of nature in an attempt to dominate the world with iron. This war against nature is shown through the third of three separate story threads, the destruction of Fangorn Forest and the awakening of the Ents, tree-like beings who live in the forest, and their eventual furious rise against Isengard and the now evil wizard Saruman. It has to be said that the whole Ent plot is my least favourite thing about this film. To be honest I don’t much care for Treebeard or the story of Merry and Pippin who are with him and the other Ents. I know it is important thematically and plotwise for the story, but I just get rather bored by slow moving, talking trees. Every time they cut to Merry and Pippin and Treebeard I just want to be back with Aragorn and the Rohirrim or with Frodo, Sam and Gollum. It is in those two stories that The Two Towers shines.

Firstly, the people of Rohan, the Rohirrim. They are a marvellous creation by Tolkien and brought to the screen wonderfully by Peter Jackson and co. They are basically a throwback to the Anglo Saxons if they had developed a horse-based culture and a history not interrupted by the Norman invasion. The realisation of their capital, Edoras, a city of wood and thatch built around a huge jagged hill with the great hall of Meduseld crowning its top, is fabulous. From the moment we get there the culture feels real and old and authentic. The people of Rohan are great with some wonderful characters and actors bringing them to life – none more so than Bernard Hill as King Theoden. Theoden is possibly my favourite character in these films. Hill gives him such world-weary depth. He is full of sadness and doubt over his role and ability as king, yet he is also filled with such bravery, sense of honour and genuine love for his lost son and for his lovely niece Eowyn. His story is fantastic. From first seeing him as the puppet of Saruman, controlled by the vile Wormtongue (a splendid Brad Dourif) then to grieving father, to doubt ridden king, to fearless and noble leader who accepts his fate as a part of how things should be, he is truly captivating. This is my favourite character journey in the films. I just adore Theoden’s simple, quiet and forlorn line to Aragorn, as the forces of Isengard are about to overrun his keep: “What can men do against such reckless hate?” This is so simple and so true and sadly relates so well to our world today. What indeed can we do? And then there is Eowyn. Ah, lovely Eowyn. She was always my favourite female character in the films…not that there are many to choose from. And she is probably my second favourite character after Theoden in terms of character journey. She encompasses everything that is good and true while being desperate to actually fight for what she loves and believes in. She is resilient and brave – emotionally as well as in battle. Her handling of her affection for Aragorn is heartfelt and mature, never letting it consume her. Her defiance of tradition and her belief in anyone being able to fight for what they love is beautiful stuff. And of course it pays off handsomely in The Return of the King in one of the best moments of the entire trilogy. Miranda Otto is perfect in the role. She has a fragile porcelain beauty about her, yet also a tough indomitable spirit. She’s lovely and she kicks some major ass. Watching her again as Eowyn I fell in love a little bit.

The war story comes to a head with the siege and battle of Helms Deep, the mountain fortress the Rohirrim go to in times of need. And the battle is spectacular in a grim, horrific, dirty and violent way. The action is built up slowly and purposefully; plenty of dread and hopelessness abounds as the people of Rohan await the awesome and horrific might of ten thousand orcs and uruk-hai. This is wonderfully shown in the tension between Aragorn and Legolas over the hopelessness of the cause and Aragorn teaching a young boy how to wield his sword and - more importantly - about hope, which is a major theme of The Lord of the Rings. Hope is always there no matter what. Never give up. Never lie down and die for you have no idea what may be waiting around the next corner, something that may arrive unexpected to turn your ill fortunes to good. Tolkien termed this concept the eucatastrophe, the opposite of catastrophe. And this eucatastrophe happens twice at Helms Deep, although one is invented by the filmmakers (the arrival of the elves) with the other being Gandalf and Eomer’s arrival out of the rising sun in the east to save the day. This is brilliant, elegant and deeply stirring stuff. The charge of the Rohirrim led by Gandalf down the steep hill with the sun blazing behind them is truly magnificent.

The other story strand of the film is of course Frodo and Sam’s journey to Mordor. This is where they hook up with Gollum who offers to lead them to Mordor through secret ways. Gollum is amazing. The CGI still looks fantastic even after the likes of Avatar. But it is the performance by Andy Serkis that really sells him. He is utterly believable and truly a wretched thing yet also pitiable. You can’t help but dislike Sam for always having a go despite knowing full well that Sam is right. When Frodo and Sam meet up with Faramir, Boromir’s brother, things get even more interesting. Faramir is the younger brother living in his older brother’s shadow, always seeking to please his dismissive father. So when the opportunity to do what Boromir failed to do – take the one ring to Gondor - comes his way he goes with it. This leads to the siege of Osgiliath and Faramir’s realisation that to really be strong and be right he must let Frodo go and resist the rings’ temptation. Which is what he does. And the film ends with Sam, Frodo and Gollum making their way closer to Mordor with Gollum secretly deciding to lead them to their deaths and reclaim the ring for himself.

The Two Towers is fantastic and plays a lot better than I remembered it. Even the Treebeard stuff, which I still don’t much like, I can cope with better now. But it is the wonderful Rohirrim and Theoden and Eowyn, the grim and brutal Helms Deep battle and the brilliance of Gollum that makes this stand out as the classic it is. The extended edition also gives us the fate if Saruman too. Any excuse to see the always-awesome Christopher Lee is fine by me.

The story concludes…

Lording it over the Rings: Part 1 - Hairy Feet and Fiery Demons

Being on leave this week and with plenty of time to fill I decided it was time to do something I’ve been meaning to do for ages: re-watch the entirety of the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings back to back…or as close to as possible. All twelve hours of it. I haven’t watched any of these movies all the way through for several years just having caught bits and pieces of them when they’ve been on tv (those being the regular and shorter cinema cuts.) This has partly been due to it being a major time investment to do so as the extended cuts are the definitive versions and the only ones I ever want to watch in their entirety. And you really need to watch them in order and then all together as it is one big story and one huge film. To call these extended editions is rather unfair really. They are actually entirely new editions of the films using different takes, added scenes, extended scenes, re-editing of the narrative, new music etc. to totally re-forge the story.

On Wednesday I broke out the lovely green and gold box of The Fellowship of the Ring. I popped disc 1 (of 2) in to my upscaler bluray player, turned on my 42” widescreen telly, adjusted the home cinema settings for digital 5.1, cranked up the volume and let rip. On Thursday I finished The Return of the King and have just finished re-watching the hours of wonderful documentaries that accompanied those discs.

And I gotta say that once again I was totally blown away.

These three films – especially in their superior extended cuts – are simply three of the finest films ever made. They are huge yet intimate, sweeping yet subtle, quietly emotional yet rousing. They are epics that tell a timeless mythic tale which, despite the magic and monsters and fantasy, always remains grounded in a historical reality that is utterly believable. They also contain so many of the best moments in modern filmmaking that it is almost ridiculous to behold. Though The Fellowship of the Ring remains my personal favourite of the three, The Return of the King is crammed full of so many gobsmacking scenes and moments with more glorious money shots than a dozen other films combined. In this marathon exercise I also gained a much stronger love for The Two Towers, always my least favourite of the three. So, without further ado…

The Fellowship of the Ring

I love, love, love this film - especially in its extended edition. The opening whispered Elvish words bleeding in to Cate Blanchett’s wonderful narration over the spectacular history of Isildur’s defeat of Sauron and his subsequent fall from grace, through the journey of the ring to the Shire, really sets the scene and lets you know this is gonna be something special. The extended stuff of Bilbo’s party is wonderful, as is the journey of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin to Bree. The Black Riders/Ring Wraiths/Nazgul are introduced in this section and are the main threat for the first half of the film. And they are scary and freaky as anything. Truly the stuff of nightmares. It’s with the Nazgul that Peter Jackson’s horror movie roots shine. The knives in the dark sequence where the Nazgul try to kill the Hobbits at Bree is a dark, malevolent powerhouse of film making using brilliant imagery, music and cross cutting to put the audience in real fear for our heroes. And then comes the confrontation at Weathertop, which is equally stunning and nightmarish. This is then followed by the thrilling and tense ride of Arwen to Rivendell to save Frodo while closely pursued by the Black Riders. Upon reaching the river they snarl, “Give up the halfling, she-elf!” Arwen defiantly replies, “If you want him, come and claim him,” while unsheathing her sword. Awesome!

After the Council of Elrond where the Fellowship is formed, our band of heroes start out for Mordor. And there comes the journey through Moria and the confrontation with Goblins, a cave Troll and – of course – the Balrog. The Moria sequence all the way up to the Bridge at Kazahdum, Gandalf’s “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” and “Fly you fools!” followed by its end on Frodo’s heartbroken face is probably my favourite sequence in this entire trilogy and one of my favourite ever in film. I remember when seeing The Fellowship of the Ring at the cinema for the first time and the Balrog turned up I lost my freaking mind. It roared that hot, gravely, rumbling roar…and the cinema shook. I felt my seat vibrating. Jesus H. Christ! That moment goes down as probably my single favourite movie going moment ever. Of course from then on this film can’t top that on a visceral and gobsmacking level. But it manages it on a purely emotional and story telling level with the realisation by Frodo that he must abandon his friends and go on alone to his likely doom. You have the sacrifice of Borimir, the flawed yet ultimately heroic warrior of Gondor. There’s also the oath of Strider, Gimli and Legolas to save Merry and Pippin from the orcs. And of course there is the selfless, unwavering loyalty of Samwise the Brave, which ends the film on a hopeful and reasonably positive note. Glorious!

Everything about this film is perfect. The performances are all very strong with Ian McKellen as Gandalf being the standout. I especially love Cate Blanchett as Galadriel. She brings a real otherworldly beauty yet also scariness to her role. And John Rhys-Davies as Gimli the Dwarf is wonderful fun too. His rivalry and burgeoning friendship with elf Legolas is a great thing to watch especially as it grows stronger throughout The Two Towers. A landmark in filmmaking, The Fellowship of the Ring is a truly brilliant film on every level.

The story continues…