Savant's new reviews today are
Hello again. I know my kids are probably already mad at me for seeing it first, but I attended a screening of RETURN OF THE KING Saturday afternoon. (no spoilers, just impressions...) I enjoyed it better than the first two, mainly for the emotional payoff. There are a lot of details I'll want to ask about (no Tolkien expert I) but it was very satisfying - and the print was a couple of generations better looking than what I saw of the first two instalments in ordinary theaters.
It was long, longer than many old roadshow pics that have intermissions - if I were a theater owner, I'd interrupt it for a bathroom break no matter what the distributor told me to do. I was a bit worn out and overwhelmed by about the 2/3 mark, and then realized that we had a lot of territory to cover before the finale. When the three extended DVD versions are set end to end, I'll bet the whole thing will near 14 hours in length - and there's no guarantee there won't be an 'extended' extended version down the road. This grand way of approaching a revered book paid off in the mighty Fritz Lang - Niebelungen manner - I think it will dwarf (no pun intended) the other 'franchise' movies of the year.
The word on the street is that the Kiwi filmmaker will next take on a grandiose remake of King Kong. If one has to make such a movie right now, it couldn't be in better hands. Glenn Erickson
Posted by DVD Savant at December 07, 2003 09:07 PM