DVD Pick: "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"

“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003) won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director (Peter Jackson). “Return of the King” is the third and final installment in a fantasy action-adventure that began with “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001) and continued in “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” (2002).

“Return of the King” picks up where “The Two Towers” left off, with Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) traveling to Mount Doom with Gollum (computer-generated, but voiced by and modeled on Andy Serkis). Meanwhile, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and Gandalf (Ian McKellen) get involved in monumental battles.

I don’t think fans of the first two “Lord of the Rings” films will be disappointed in “Return of the King.” It has more emotional impact than the first two movies, and I would rate it slightly higher than the earlier films. In addition, it provides a satisfying ending to the series.

Although this two-disc DVD set provides over two hours of bonus materials, I found them a disappointment. There’s no audio commentary track, and the features seem either promotional or didactic.

The 23-minute feature “The Quest Fulfilled: A Director’s Vision” centers around the eight years director Peter Jackson spent in making “The Lord of the Rings.” A voice-over narrator claims that initially Jackson was working with a Hollywood studio—which isn’t identified—on a two-picture adaptation of Tolkien’s 1200-page novel. But when that studio told him to condense the trilogy into a single film or be replaced, he shifted over to New Line Cinema.

The 28-minute feature “A Filmmaker’s Journey: Making ‘The Return of the King’” is filled mostly with clips and interviews with actors. But there’s a little about author J.R.R. Tolkien, including the claim that in the 1960s, he refused to let the Beatles make a movie version of his book starring Paul as Frodo, Ringo as Sam, George as Gandalf, and John as Gollum.

The 45-minute National Geographic Beyond the Movie feature on "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" is narrated by John Rhys-Davies, who plays the dwarf Gimli in the film. Rhys-Davies asks, “Does this ancient, mythic world in some mysterious way evoke our own?” I would have responded, “Not really,” but the feature answers this question in the affirmative by drawing various historical parallels, including between Aragorn and William Wallace; Gandalf and Benjamin Franklin; Wormtongue and Rasputin; Aragorn at Helm’s Deep and Henry V at Agincourt; and Faramir and Confederate General George E. Pickett. Also, it’s asserted that the mission of Frodo and Sam parallels those of three historical duos: (1) Lewis and Clark; (2) Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay topping Mt. Everest; and (3) Robert Peary and Matthew Henson reaching the North Pole. Some of these parallels make more sense than others, but I still didn't buy into the feature's basic premise. Nevertheless, I found some of the historical references interesting.

I rate the feature film itself highly, but I recommend this two-disc set only as a rental, given that an extended version of the movie is expected to be released on DVD later in 2004. Details are not yet available for that future DVD release, but if history is any guide, one might expect it to contain more.

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