With the dark wizard Saruman ( Christopher Lee) defeated Rohan’s king Théoden ( Bernard Hill), Gandalf the White ( Ian McKellen), Aragorn ( Viggo Mortensen), Legolas ( Orlando Bloom), and Gimli ( John Rhys-Davies) are left to contemplate Sauron’s next move. Frodo ( Elijah Wood) and Sam ( Sean Astin)’s journey to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom is nearing its destination, but their treacherous guide Gollum ( Andy Serkis) is more determined than ever to kill both hobbits and take the ring (his “precious”) as a prize. The dark forces of Mordor and Isengard have suffered a severe defeat at the hands of a powerful alliance of the free races of Middle-Earth.
In one word…emotion.” Though he was making a cameo in a movie instead of granting an interview that brief speech perfectly summed up Fuller’s philosophy of cinema, a philosophy that is alive and well in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the third and final installment in one of the most thrilling epic trilogies in motion picture history.
In Jean-Luc Godard’s 1965 film Pierrot le Fou the late filmmaking giant Samuel Fuller, a legendary purveyor of uncompromising dramas and adventures that were not afraid of journeying into the darkest realms of the human soul, said, “Film is like a battleground. “The battle of Helm’s Deep is over the battle for Middle-Earth is about to begin.” Geek, Ph.D’s review of The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy Extended Edition from July 2011 here. Starring Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, and Sean Astin The Lord Of The Rings – The Return Of The King: Extended Edition