MovieChat Forums > The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) Discussion > Ending...

Ending...

posted 8 years ago by slg26
3 replies | jump to latest

I was just re watching the this movie and a couple of questions. For those who've read the books, please chime in as well.
Do any of the main characters other than Sam know that Frodo did not relinquish the ring willingly? Did ever feel iike a fraud because of everyone thinking of him as a hero?
How was the loss of his finger explained?

I know this has been long debated, but I found the ending was excessively long, how would you have ended the movie? It was great the filmmakers tried to tie up loose ends, but it seemed rushed at times and way too long...Maybe not even include the scene where Frodo wakes up in the bed while Gandalf looks over him laughing. This seems very odd. Maybe cut from the eagles picking Sam and Frodo up and seeing them at the coronation...Just my thoughts...

[–] Otaku-sempai 8 years ago

Personally, I would have liked to see the Scouring of the Shire (at least in the extended edition) where, rather than seen as a a vision that never comes to pass, the four hobbits return to the Shire to find it taken over by Sharkey's (Saruman's) henchmen and driven to put things right. However, the deaths of Saruman and Wormtongue at Isengard put an end to that idea.

"Hell hath no fury like that of the uninvolved." - T. Isabella

[–] dijomaja-382-516639 8 years ago

In general I disagree with the "too many endings" complaint. We're tying up the fates of several "worlds", a few types of beings, a number of major characters and ten hours of storytelling. The ending is too short.

This is ultimately a story about loss. Cutting to the coronation, cuing applause and drawing the curtain misses Tolkien's point, much as we might feel otherwise at times.

The omission of Tolkien's 'Scouring of the Shire' chapter has had several threads to itself. I always thought the chapter was anticlimactic in my first few readings of the book but over time I see things differently. I do understand why it was left out of the film.

The idea that Frodo might feel like a "fraud" doesn't seem to come up in the book but I think the film implies that in the look on his face at the coronation. We're not told who knows what.

[–] 8 years ago

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