I have not been paying much attention to events in Iraq or politics recently. I follow it, but usually with no more attention to detail than any other news items. After my move, I found I had much more work to do, so I spent less time at work surfing the news outlets on the web. I know few people in the area, so I rent a lot of movies. I recently saw Return of the King (twice, actually.) Here is a reprint of a review I sent out by e-mail to some friends.

A newspaper in San Francisco called the Lord of the Rings "The Greatest Movie Trilogy of All Times." They said it with an apology to Francis Ford Coppolla (did he do the Godfather trilogy?) Their opinion was that it trumps Star Wars, the Godfather and (of course) the Matrix.

If you haven't seen it yet, don't read on.

I can't say which was my favorite scene, but Shelob's Lair exceeded my expectation. Leave it to a horror film director to draw out the horror scenes. For drama, nothing beats the Ride of the Rohirrim and the fall of Theoden. To see Theoden rallying his troops was one of the most amazing scenes I have seen on film. It was Shakespearean in scope and delivery. I am sure Bernard Hill is trained as a Shakespearean actor. Even in The Two Towers, I thought he was the most kingly person I had seen protrayed in film. In fact, I think Aragorn learned what it is to be a king from Theoden. Witness Aragorn's rallying the troops at the black gate. While it was stirring, it was a pale copy of Theoden's speech.

Arise, arise, Riders of Theoden!
Fell deeds awake, fire and slaughter!
spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered,
a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!
Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!

From that to Eowyn's slaying of the Witch King. "I am no man!" The geek-fan theater goers cheered for that line. The last scene between Theoden and Eowyn brought me to tears. It was not from the book, which proves that the magic of these movies is not just from Tolkien, but from the movie-makers as well. Whatever deviations from the book there were, I not only forgive, but embrace.

Can anyone not be moved by the scene of Pippin singing over the charge of Faramir's suicide mission while Denthor devoured his food? The juxtaposition of the impending slaughter of the Gondorian cavalry against Denethor's indifference while he ate overlain with the haunting melody of Pippin's song proves Peter Jackson's skill as a filmmaker.

John Noble played Denethor to the fullest as a madman. I would have liked to have seen more of his nobility, but one can find more of that on the Extended Edition DVD of The Two Towers. The audience gasped when he answered Faramir's question. "Do you wish Boromir were here and I were dead?" Quietly, Denethor whispered, "Yes." I get shivers from thinking of it.

The general quality of the acting in this film was phenomenal. No one actor shone above the rest. All displayed their talents to their best. Elijah wood showed the psychological torture of Frodo and his capture by the ring, Andy Serkis portrayed the pathos of Gollum, Sean Astin brought out the steadfastness and bravery of Sam, Orlando Bloom's bravura turned Legolas into a matinee-idol hero, John Rhys-Davies played Gimli to his comic best, Viggo Mortensen brought Aragorn to the height of nobility, Bernard Hill and Mirando Otto turned Theoden and Eowyn into Shakespearean figures. They all deserve the best actor nomination.

My only complaint was that it was too short. It was so fast paced, it seemed to be racing from scene to scene. It was obvious that Jackson planned on putting more in, given the sudden scene changes. By that I mean things like Sam having picked up Galadriel's light and Sting, Frodo and Sam losing the orc armor, Faramir and Eowyn standing together happily at the end of the movie. There were no scenes to explain these items, so I expect to see them on the DVD. (Next year. One more year to wait, then I will have no more Lord of the Rings to look forward to.)

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Michael Tedin
Smeagol died for your sins.