The Lord of the Rings has become a defining story in the fantasy genre. The epic tale of good versus evil in the magical setting of Middle-earth remains popular decades later, partially because the story has been introduced to audiences in other formats. J. R. R. Tolkien‘s books have been adapted several times, with varying degrees of accuracy. The novels are detailed and expansive, containing more lore than could ever fit into a film. The most famous adaptations are Ralph Bakshi‘s animated film, Rankin/Bass’s TV special The Return of the King, and, most recently, Peter Jackson‘s live-action trilogy. While each is based on Tolkien’s work, none are exactly perfect.
Yet, the films, specifically Jackson’s interpretation, are widely accepted by the fanbase. Jackson’s film universe has grown to include The Hobbit trilogy, the upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, and more live-action films that are on the way. If that were not proof enough of their success, Jackson’s trilogy gained critical acclaim upon release, with all three doing well, but The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King outperformed its predecessors. However, J. R. R. Tolkien’s grandson, Simon Tolkien, had some very specific criticisms, especially of The Return of the King, which he considers the weakest adaption, and he actually has a point.
Simon Tolkien Called ‘The Return of the King’ the Weakest Film in the Trilogy
Calling a single installment the weakest of three strong films isn’t the same as saying it isn’t good. After all, one has to be not quite as good as the others, yet The Return of the King won the Oscar for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay, where the other two didn’t win any of those categories. Going against the critical response, Simon Tolkien told the BBC in 2003 that, while it is an impressive spectacle, he believes the others were better adaptations, and didn’t leave fans of his grandfather’s story wondering why he believed The Return of the King could have been better.
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The 10 Biggest Plot Holes in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Ranked
Luckily, these plot holes are not massive; ring-shaped, at best.
Backing up his statement, Simon Tolkien argued that there was simply too much going on in the final film in the trilogy. At this point, the central characters are spread out, and the film has to go back and forth between several locations to explain the entire story, often interrupting the flow of one with another. Simon Tolkien claimed that in The Return of the King, “Unlike The Fellowship Of The Ring, where everyone was together on the journey, you get very confused as to who is doing what.” The final film has a lot to wrap up, but Simon Tolkien believes it could be fixed with more cuts. He explained, “I think there’s wonderful things in it, but I would have liked to have cut much more of the battle scene and special effects in this one, and had more development of the characters.” Cutting more would not be a popular opinion (already major parts of the book didn’t make it into the film), yet there is some logic to Simon Tolkien’s argument.
Simon Tolkien Has a Point About ‘The Return of the King’
While The Return of the King is entertaining from start to finish, it is a valid argument that it is too full of action. With the evil building throughout the story, The Return of the King has the most danger and action. During the film, Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) face Shelob and later are confronted by Gollum (Andy Serkis) before they can destroy the One Ring. The rest of the characters fight the Battle of the Pelennor Fields and the Battle of the Black Gate, all over the three-and-a-half-hour runtime. It’s bloody, intense, and full of special effects, but the character development does fall to the side. Frodo is so affected by the Ring that he can do little more than focus on his quest, and when it comes to the battles, the attention goes to the action, not specific characters.
While few people voice the problem as clearly as Simon Tolkien, many fans agree, criticizing the many different endings the film goes through as the Ring is destroyed, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) is crowned, the hobbits return home, and then Frodo sails away. The film is action-packed until it reaches the conclusion, which keeps going. Overall, the film is an admirable attempt to adapt the book, but simply didn’t have enough time to include everything, and Simon Tolkien is right in that it prioritized the action.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is currently available to stream on Max in the U.S.
Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron’s army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.
- Release Date
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December 17, 2003
- Cast
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Elijah Wood
, Ian McKellen
, Liv Tyler
, Viggo Mortensen
, Sean Astin
, Cate Blanchett
, John Rhys-Davies
, Bernard Hill
, Billy Boyd
, Dominic Monaghan
, Orlando Bloom
, Hugo Weaving
, Miranda Otto
, David Wenham
, Karl Urban
, John Noble
, Andy Serkis
, Ian Holm
, Sean Bean - Runtime
-
201 Minutes
- Main Genre
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Fantasy
