The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - I guess I should've watched the entire trilogy since that's what they were rewarding. However, I don't have 10-11 hours to devote to a single year so I only watched the film that received the accolades. I don't know which of the three is best. They're all about equal: pretty to look at, slow at times, kickass at others. Taken as a trilogy, it's a terrific achievement. Individually, I'm not sure any of them qualify as masterpieces. The problem is in including damn near everything from the books. This series set a bad precedent by catering completely to the fanboys. No longer can we have a movie from a popular series that cuts through the crap and tells a nice, neat story within two hours. Now, there has to be a series of films and you best not leave anything out if you know what's good for ya, Chester. You're gonna have the whole Internet on yer ass! (BTW, I just read that they're making The Hobbit and splitting it into two movies. A 300 page book requires two movies now. Thanks, nerds.) What we ultimately get are a series of movies that suffer by being all-inclusive. RotK itself takes a long time to get going. Once it's wound up, it's a lot of fun. The battle sequences are fantastic, and despite the gayness, Frodo and Sam's venture to Mount Doom is well done, if a bit long. From a technical standpoint, the movie is top notch. The story holds your interest, but it's missing an emotional investment that would rank it among the great epics. I've heard some people say that Sam carrying Frodo moved them to tears, but that's just silly. This ain't Old Yeller here. There's orcs and elves flitting about. Crying during this movie places you on the Stability Chart just above the kid who killed himself when his D&D character died. I like these movies, but I have to be completely honest and say they're not perfect. They needed some cuts. If I want the full story, I'll read the books. Speaking of which, RotK captured my imagination well enough that I thought about returning to the books. (I read the first book one summer long ago and started the second, but needed a break from them and never returned.) I actually loaded them onto the Kindle this afternoon after I finished the movie, so now they're ready when I am. That is a credit to the movies.
Twist: I watched the Extended Director's Holy Shit This Is Everything Edition because that's what I had on hand. I don't know the original well enough to know what's new, but it felt like a mix of good and bad. The bad was it took an hour for the movie to get going. The good explained some things a little better like the dead dudes who came to the rescue at Minis Tirith. Originally, they almost seemed like a deus ex machina who stormed in to save the day. Here they get a few extra scenes that nicely fill in the blanks. Also, there's the Mouth of Sauron which is fucking creepy and must also be new because I would've remembered that shit. That was good old-fashioned nightmare fuel there.
Did it deserve to win?: The movie itself probably didn't, but this was all about honoring the entire series. It's arguable if it's even the best of the series. But it was a weak year with only Mystic River and Master and Commander standing out from the crowd. My vote would've gone to Lost in Translation which you either agree with or wonder what I'm smoking.
The movie:
(out of 5)
The entire series:
(out of 5)
Up next: Million Dollar Baby