THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING

New Line has followed a set schedule for Peter Jackson's epic film adaptation of Tolkein's epic fantasy novel: theatrical release in December, two-disc DVD release in August, and four-disc extended edition DVD sets in time for Christmas shopping (and promoting the next installment in theaters). But this year they've stepped up that DVD release schedule by a few months, perhaps to strike while the iron is hot after their big win on Oscar night. Academy voters liked the final act of the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy so much that there were rumors going around that they'd almost awarded it next year's Best Picture Oscar as well, with Frodo voted the Lifetime Achievement Award. After the Academy Awards ceremony, a SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE sketch had a giddy Peter Jackson (with Elijah Wood in tow) making the rounds of random television shows to pick up awards in a shopping bag, often pausing to hand out "spare" Oscars to the hosts. While the previous two entries in the Trilogy only garnered music and technical awards, the outpouring of honors heaped on the final third of the story leads one to several possible conclusions. Maybe 2003 was an otherwise sour year for films? It wasn't. Well perhaps RETURN OF THE KING is just a much better movie than either FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING or THE TWO TOWERS? It isn't.

In fact, RETURN has some glaring flaws. Whoa before you toss me into Mount Doom let me finish! The Dark Lord Sauron, that thundering eyeball hovering over his dark tower, is often portrayed as some sort of evil lighthouse, for one. The big battle scenes are suitably bigger than any before, yet their build up in suspense beforehand doesn't have the intensity of those in TWO TOWERS (a tough act to follow, granted), and their conclusions are too abrupt to be really satisfying. After watching orcs batter Minas Tirith for an hour, I wanted to see a lot more bad guys hoisted on pikes, but Peter Jackson seems to be in a rush to get the ghostly cavalry in to mop up. Perhaps the expanded edition will be an improvement, but we're dealing with the theatrical version as is here. And speaking of conclusions, let's get to one. I understand that, after so much time spent with these characters, one wants to see some proper closure. But with the battle for the Shire eliminated from the hobbits' homecoming, the last 20 minutes comes off as one round of hugs after another.

However, the end may be the secret of RETURN's apparent greater success. We learn from an early age that stories have beginnings, middles and endings. Because it has a real ending, RETURN feels more like a real movie, rather than a third of one. And just as its greater box office success should be taken as the result of millions catching on to the Trilogy on video before rushing to theaters for the conclusion, the accolades garnered by RETURN can be taken for what they really are: an appreciation of the Trilogy as one whole film shown in three parts.

That's not to take anything away from it's own merits - RETURN OF THE KING is an excellent film. The spectacle is beyond description, yet amid all the awesome sights, the actors still manage to distinguish themselves. Each of our heroes is taken on a great journey, growing as a result one could make a fine film following the individual stories of any of the dozen lead characters. You could edit together a feature that just followed Frodo and Sam through their adventure, or a chronological unfolding of Smeagol's sad tale, or pick up at the point where Aragorn enters the story and show his journey. (You might want to skip THE ELROND STORY too much creepy staring from Hugo Weaving.) And the Shelob sequence, the best giant spider battle ever created, makes for a very well done horror film within the film. Everybody who had anything at all to do with this movie should be soundly thanked and congratulated for the rest of their lives.

And yet, it's a film that is, in the end, only a third of a better film as great as RETURN OF THE KING is, it's impossible to think of it as a solitary work. If that's the worst that can be said of it, then that's pretty good I'd say. Now that fans can hunker down on the couch and watch the entire thing in one sitting er, that is if you've got a multidisc player (otherwise you'll need to get up a couple times at least) we can appreciate it all the more.

One has to speculate though: shouldn't sales of the three DVDs be expected to be equal? And if not, are there folks out there that brought home FELLOWSHIP, then decided it wasn't their cup of mead? Or odder still, are there folks that will bypass the first two and buy only RETURN OF THE KING? But I digress...

Though light on extras (most of which are being held for the four-disc set), the DVD version is no disappointment, granted the same excellent transfer quality bestowed upon its predecessors. The second disc centers its extras on a trilogy of documentary featurettes, starting with a somewhat fluffy 23-minute "The Quest Fulfilled: A Director's Vision", which tells us (duh!) how important Jackson's vision is to the film through interviews, clips and behind-the-scenes footage. This should only be a warm-up for "A Filmmaker's Journey: Making the Return of the King", but since this documentary is still only 28 minutes long, there's really only so much that it can cover, and much of what is covered is a rehash of material already covered on previous DVDocumentaries a lot of it even comes right out of "Quest Fulfilled"! The National Geographic also produced their own trilogy of 46-minute documentaries for TV on the films, and the third one is included here. Narrated by Gimli himself, John Rhys-Davies, it achieves a bit more depth by focusing on the movie's themes and tying them into real historic events. For example, Aragorn's story is compared to those of William Wallace and Theodore Roosevelt. This succeeds in making the point that the films' worth is based more on their truth than their fantasy.

More in-depth content is provided by six mini-featurettes which originally appeared on LordoftheRings.net. These bits, none over four minutes long, worked better as tantalizing previews than after-the-fact examinations, but they contain some interesting comments and behind-the-scenes peeks, especially the one covering digital stunt horses.

The disc also contains two theatrical trailers, TV spots, a video game promo, and a 6½-minute "supertrailer" that ballyhoos the trilogy as a single feature. Is this meant to advertise a theatrical re-release of all three films, or even a release of all three edited together into a megafeature?

New Line repeats another tradition with this DVD release, as well as its companion VHS edition, that needs to be applauded. They've included a coupon good for a rebate to those that go on to purchase the extended editions in an era when fans sometimes feel bled by multiple collectors editions, it's good to see a bit of monetary reward offered to dedicated customers.