by Chris Marshall:
Return of the King
posed a unique problem for The Oscar Project. It is only the second sequel to
win Best Picture—The Godfather Part Two
being the first—but this time, neither of its predecessors took home the top
prize. Although I had seen all of the films at least once before, I hadn’t
watched them since soon after they came out in theaters.
For this reason, I was a little concerned that I would be
totally lost upon re-watching Return of the
King. As it turned out, though, I remembered enough for it to (mostly) make
sense, and I think it works pretty well as a standalone movie anyway. Obviously
it is greatly enhanced by seeing the first two in the series, but I feel like
it would be mostly comprehensible to a newbie.
I try to tread lightly when discussing The Lord of the Rings because I am by no means an expert. As I
mentioned, I’ve seen the movies only once or twice each, and I’ve never read
any of the books. The only Tolkien I’ve read at all is The Hobbit, and it doesn’t help much with these films. Therefore, I
just want to say that everything I write should be viewed in light of that admission.
