Media

Home Theater Movie Renter's Guide - July, 2011

"Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended Edition)" (Blu-ray) - Reviewed by Chris Heinonen

Synopsis

With Sauron preparing for his final assault on Middle Earth, Gandalf and Theoden have to raise their forces to protect Minas Tirith, the capital of Gondor, from attack.  At the same time, Aragorn is finally ready to rise and claim the throne of Gondor to assist in the battle.  However, even this full assault on Sauron might not be enough and the fate of everyone may still rest with Frodo, Sam, and Gollum as they attempt to enter Mt Doom and destroy the One Ring for good.

Commentary

A fitting climax to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King takes all the momentum that has built up in the previous two installments and carries it through to the end.  Return of the King is a wonderful film, and a fitting winner of the whole raft of Oscars that it took home (11 nominations, 11 wins).

Technical

Just like The Two Towers, there isn’t much to complain about here visually, with just a little bit of effects related issues showing up to distract from the film.  Detail is typically very good and really there isn’t much to complain about here.  Just like the other two films, the soundtrack is as good as it gets, and there is nothing to complain about with it.

Extras

Once again, we have multiple commentaries with a ton of people contributing, countless documentaries on the book to script to film transition, special effects, designing Middle Earth, choosing the filming locations, and more.  Three DVDs barely seems to hold it all.

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