Return of the Ring
Well I’ve just got back after seeing The Return of the King in Brixton and it was very, very good. But not quite as brilliant as I had hoped, to tell the truth.
The acting was first class, the attention to detail was insane, the battle scenes epic, and the special effects flawless, but sadly it did suffer from a certain Hollywood-style dumbing-down. I’m not one of those idiots that thinks Tolkien’s work is too sacred to be adapted or have parts ommitted to fit into a three hour film (me? I’d have had more buxom go-go dancers), but some of the changes did reduce the subtlety and depth of the characters and storyline (not to mention one or two dodgy moments with the script). It wasn’t just a time thing either — Jackson ousted some important scenes with invented bits that weren’t in the book — and although the film felt better balanced and paced the the first two, the ending wasn’t quite right… I won’t put in any spoilers here, suffice to say is that it’s very different from the book in some places (like the Papa Smurf teaming up with Gandalf, and finding out that Smeagol was actually Frodo’s father).
Perhaps I’m just being too picky though; Return of the King was still better than The Two Towers (if not quite as good as Fellowship), and I’ve a feeling the extended version will put right most of my misgivings. It’s certainly destined to become a classic, and is far superior to most of the pap that’s churned out by Hollywood these days. Go and see it.
I agree with you on this one. The cinema release was good but they did have to make some edits and changes for the cinema audience. When the extended DVD edition appears, as it will, then, with the right scenes put into the right places (like explaining what happens to him who was locked up in the tower) then it could be one of the best DVDs ever.