Sunday 1 January 2012

The Sunday Scene #7: The Return of the King


Prepare for Battle

Happy New Year everyone. I wish you all the very best.

Having known exactly my favourite scene from The Two Towers, I found it hard to chose one from Return of the King. My choice in the end is less a scene than a short section of a phenomenal film. The Siege of Gondor as a whole is brilliant; but I feel that the best section is from where Gandalf clobbers Denethor with his staff until the time that Grond is wheeled up to the gates of Minas Tirith.

Again the blend of live action, CG and models is perfect, and there are so many brilliant action sequences: pieces of masonry being flung back at the Orc army by trebuchets, some Orc-bashing Gandalf action, and a phenomenal aerial shot of Nazgul descending upon the city.

 




Howard Shore's score is brilliant again, in moments inspiring, but mostly sinister and oppressive given the scale of the invasion force. As I said, the whole film is brilliant, but I feel that this is the most astounding section; not necessarily just one scene, but there really isn't one scene I could single out. Do you agree?

2 comments:

  1. Happy New Year to you and Mrs Russ :)

    I'm not sure which would be my favourite scene either... You've picked a brilliant scene, though, and you're quite right about Shore's excellent score. The music adds so much to the atmosphere, and the mix of CGI and live action is a perfect partnership.

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  2. Yeah, I knew that it was going to be hard to pick a favourite bit in ROTK, though I feel that this is probably the best part for me. Dramatic and terrible, and perfectly shot.

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