THE LORD OF THE RINGS: The Motion Picture Trilogy - 4K Blu-ray (Newline, 2001-03) Warner Home Video

 Difficult to assess, as yet, where the overall importance of director, Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003) will reside with movie fans for generations yet to come. Without question, the trilogy was - and is - an impressive undertaking. Its scope is beyond reproach, and many of the performances in it can likely be considered definitive in the sci-fi/fantasy genre. To attempt even one such epic would have been a Herculean endeavor. To set a course to fulfill three in tandem - The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003) is a task that, if nothing else, deserves major respect paid to Jackson, for the sheer chutzpah and entrepreneurial investment to basically immerse himself in the legacy of J.R.R. Tolkien's sprawling saga of widgets, wizards and wonderment for nearly 3 full years.  Produced and distributed by New Line Cinema in association with WingNut Films, the international venture between New Zealand and the United States, shooting all three movies simultaneously, was achieved – ostensibly – between 1999 and 2000, with minor pick-up shots lensed between 2001 and 2004. One of the most ambitious undertakings in film history, what Jackson has achieved on a relatively minuscule budget of $281 million is, at least for Tolkien fans, nirvana on ‘middle’ earth. Difficult to argue with the franchise’s popularity either – in totem, to have grossed more than $3 billion at the box office, and, winning 17 of its 30 Academy Award nominations. Nevertheless, at present, the trilogy has both its ardent admirers and formidable detractors. Such is the case with all truly great works of art, engaging audiences along the great divide in public sentiment and overall importance to film history. I will simply defer here to a quote by famed director, George Stevens, who told his son on the set of 1956’s Giant, “We’ll have a lot better understanding what sort of picture this is in 30 years.”  Indeed, the word ‘classic’ gets bandied about so often, it has lost all meaning. So, I still think it is too early to assess Jackson’s ‘Rings’ trilogy in such glowing plaudits.   

Although Tolkien's novel is impressive, it is actually part of a larger creative canvass the author first began in 1917. Literary reviews in his day placed the novels’ importance somewhere between the greatest 20th century masterwork in fantasy fiction, or, a tragically shallow and psychologically mangled bit of vapid tripe. But what did the critics know, beyond what they liked? Regardless, the books endured. Today, they retain a largely positive following. The title of the book aligns with the dark lord, Sauron (Christopher Lee) who, in an earlier age, had created a ring, capable of ruling the world or destroying it. In this prequel history, predating the action set in Jackson’s trilogy, Sauron was defeated by a mortal, Isidur who claimed the ring for himself. Isidur was later killed by the Orcs and the ring, lost in the Anduin River. Two-thousand years later, cousins Deagol and Gollum fished the ring from its resting place. Alas, the possessive power of the ring caused Gollum to murder Deagol and covet it for five-hundred years before he too lost it.

Any brief summary of the intricacies behind Tolkien’s sprawling narrative is futile at best. However, The Fellowship of the Ring picks up our story with the arrival of one Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) who is entrusted with the great quest to return the powerful and destructive ring to its molten domain deep within the middle earth of Mordor. Under siege by evil forces commanded by Sauron, and tempted from within to claim the ring for his own, Frodo enlists the aid of long-time friend, Samwise Gangee (Sean Astin) noble warriors, Legolas Greenleaf (Orlando Bloom) and Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), as well as the sage wisdom from the wizard, Gandalf (Ian McKellen) to make his journey complete. Of the three movies, The Fellowship of the Ring is arguably the most perfectly realized, mixing fantastic flights of fancy with powerful moments of self-realization and exhilarating action/adventure sequences. While the movie ends ambiguously, the screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson endeavors to follow the classical 3-act structure of traditional Hollywood epic, building into an emotional crescendo for the finale – something, the two other installments, quite simply fail to achieve. Frodo and his companions are attacked by the Orcs as they make their way through the treacherous mines of Moria. Gandalf fights off a Balrog (a dragon-like creature) and seemingly plummets to his death down a deep chasm (shades of the sacrifices made by Star Wars’ Obi Wan Kenobi). From here, Frodo and his entourage make safe passage to the forest of Lothlorien where they are given temporary refuge by Lady Galadriel (Cate Blanchette). Realizing the rest of his quest must be a solemn one, Frodo breaks from the fellowship, accompanied by Sam only, to continue his journey.

The second instalment, The Two Towers is hopelessly marred by a seeming lack of editing prowess – toggling back and forth, from a violent battle between Aragorn and Sauron's armies for control over the sacred city of Isengard, to an interminably dragged out sequence in which Sam and Frodo's further their adventures through a forest of talking/walking trees. What is particularly impressive about the second movie is the creation of Gollum (voiced by Andy Serkis), a character entirely realized within the digital domain, yet possessing the ballast, merits and convincing traits in performance of a real flesh and blood character. Although AMPAS awarded its Best Picture honors (as well as 10 additional statuettes) to part three, The Return of the King, this final installment in the franchise is rather problematic, not the least for its ‘leftover’ plot entanglements – many to have occurred earlier in Tolkien’s story, but likely left out of the first two installments for time constraints – also, to fatten up this finale. We begin with a flashback involving Gollum's acquisition of the ring and Frodo’s capture and – yet again – another near-death experience, this time woven into the web of a gargantuan spider.

Having been reincarnated as an immortal, Gandalf hypothesizes Sauron will attack the city of Minas Tirith. He rides off to thwart the attack with Pippin (Billy Boyd) who has had a vision of a white burning tree. The Morgul army does indeed lay siege to the city, decimating its lower suburbs. Meanwhile, Gollum convinces Frodo that Sam is after the ring for himself. The two friends are briefly parted as Gollum makes plans to lure Frodo to his death and reclaim the ring for himself. Sam, however, is unwilling to give up. Loyal beyond reproach, Sam saves Frodo and begins the arduous journey toward Mount Doom, surrounded by a garrison of Orcs. Aragorn and his men advance to part the way for Frodo and Sam. But Frodo succumbs to the jealous control of the ring, engaging Gollum in a last bitter struggle to possess it. In the tussle, Frodo's ring finger is bitten off by Gollum, liberating Frodo's spirit from the ring's demonic possession and plunging Gollum and the ring into the molten fires of pooling lava below. Sauron is destroyed and the immense shockwave that follows his hellish passing effectively wipes out the remaining Orc forces, leaving Aragorn and his men unharmed.

The succession of faux finales, and their chronic fades to black, only to begin anew with more endless snippets, necessary to resolve all the loose ends in this storytelling and reunite the audience with characters discarded from the first and second installments, left many theater patrons frustrated: getting up, and then, having to sit back down after realizing the movie had not yet concluded. Jackson's continuity, even his artistic judgment at the end, appears to be lacking, his last act distilled into a series of episodic vignettes, one layered upon the next. That aside, what is commendable is the sheer size of the project and the considerable amount of narrative content Jackson has managed to cover. Arguably, the singular marketing hook to these movies remains its digital effects. Indeed, virtually everything we see has been composited from a skillful combination of live-action footage – taking full advantage of the breathtaking New Zealand locales, with exceptional post-production digital effects layered to augment this raw footage. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy remains a true spectacle with substance. Ironically, there is something lacking in the overall emotional arc. Not exactly sure why this is – but the core of these movies is somewhat overwhelmed by its visual effects. While performances are excellent, none strike that necessary chord of sincerity to make us care about these characters beyond their confrontations and clashes set against these thought-numbing special effects.  If the movies possess an unimpeachable lavishness, it somehow is never enough to bring us around to investing on an emotional level with these fancifully achieved martyrs. The complexities inherent in Tolkien's original novel and the formidable condensing of them into workable screenplays by Fran Walsh, Phillippa Boyens and Peter Jackson leaves the inner connectivity between these characters to their cardboard cut-out relationships. In Tolkien’s books, the imagination undoubtedly filled in these blanks. In the concrete realm of the movies, there is no time for back story or emotions. In theaters, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy was compelling for the veritable sweep of its adventure. However, upon repeat home viewing, we find it not entirely as epic nor as satisfying as it once seemed.

Quite simply, Warner Home Video's 4K release will take your breath away. Going back to original film elements for a ‘ground up’ 4K remastering effort, what is here is utterly magnificent, with eye-popping and finite resolution, showing off minute details, and, ultra-vibrant colors attaining their full spectrum. That said, there has been some controversy over the color timing of certain sequences scattered throughout these movies. For starters, the bluish tint in various night sequences is gone. Sarumon's robes and beard are now 'white' and not a weirdly stylized robin egg blue as they appeared in the Blu-ray releases. Some sequences exhibit desaturated hues, while the general 'sepia' tint has been cooled down as well. The lack of film grain has led some to speculate that these are not legit 4K scans but bumps to the old 2K scans already made a decade earlier. Could be? Maybe? Not sure. Irrefutably, image clarity is much improved and black levels are exquisite. We get both ‘extended’ and ‘theatrical’ cuts in 4K. Aside: Blu-ray copies are NOT included, and neither is any of hours and hours of ‘extra’ content that was previously made available in the uber-deluxe DVD and Blu-ray sets of yore. So, you may want to hang on to those sets for the goodies. The ‘extended’ cuts in 4K are split across 2-discs, while the theatrical versions are housed on a single 4K disc – so, 9 discs for 3 movies. Warner Home Video has also afforded all 3 movies an uptick in their audio, to Dolby Atmos, for a thoroughly immersive experience. Bottom line: while some will poo-poo the loss of extras, or Warner’s decision to release ‘only’ 4K and not a 4K/Blu-ray combo, let us be reminded the studio has put its very best foot forward on quality 4K remasters that will blow most every home theater set-up right out of the water. Prepare to be dazzled. For those who love this trilogy, this new 4K edition comes very highly recommended!

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

The Fellowship of the Ring - 4

The Two Towers - 3

The Return of the King - 3

VIDEO/AUDIO

5+

Extras

0