Customer Reviews

The Art of The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings)

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Impressed by astounding cinematography of LOTR? I am. "The Art of The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings)" by Gary Russell shows the amazing art behind the movie is more than pretty pictures.

From "The Siege of Gondor" to "Shelob's Lair," Russell walks us through the stages of design that created a real and surreal world of Middle Earth.

With Shelob, for different artist's reasons for the balance of spider- and crab-like characteristics. Part of the problem was in trying to stay as close to Tolkien's own version while bringing plausible life to Shelob that would work in a movie.

Some of the pictures are pencils. Others are full-color, finely detailed views. Various angles are provided as in the many scenes of Mordor. There are photos of early models, both colored and plain, giving a 3D perspective of what the artists were thinking.

The insight here will intrigue nonartists like myself who are amazed at how complex the making of LOTR was, and serve as a primer for character and building studies. There are elements of technical discussion, but I felt I learned about the relationships of style and message.

I fully recommend "The Art of The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings). It is a beautiful book, with interesting text. Having recently watched the movie, I appreciated both Tolkien and the makers of the movie so much more.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

Any sweeping epic is going to have tons of concept art, and "The Lord of the Rings" is no exceptional. In the third collection of movie art, Gary Russell introduces us to the images and models that helped Middle-Earth come alive, and the excellent people behind them.

"Return of the King" introduces us to new civilizations, new monsters, and lots of new enemies and allies -- even more than "Two Towers" did. So the concept art ranges from armor and clothing (Faramir's regal armor, the Haradrim, Eowyn's masculine disguise, the archaic "Dead" armor), the perfect pirate ships, different kinds of Mumakil (prehistoric elephants), weaponry (different sketches of the Grond battering ram), and monsters like the hideous spider Shelob, whose sketches take up a full six pages.

On a more sweeping scale, there are full-fledged paintings, mattes, models and special effects shots. Among the artists are the excellent Alan Lee and John Howe, who both paint and sketch their usual beautiful material. Jeremy Bennett also does a good job, although his stuff is substantially rougher. As for models? Try the ghoulish head of the dead king, different Fell Beast models, the Mumakil, and much more.

It's nice to see the concept art in all its stages. For example, one Witch-King sketch from 1996 shows (Ben Wootten apologetically says) D&D-influenced armor. At the same time, an early sketch of Gandalf confronting one of the Black Riders is shown in nearly identical form in the finished movie. Okay, Pippin isn't there -- but the pose and setting are similar.

The comments from the many artists also give a greater insight into how the various things in the film evolved. Some things (like battering ram Grond) were pretty thoroughly described in the original novel. With other things, like the Fell Beast, the concept artists had to be a little more creative. So it's intriguing to see how their designs shifted and changed, ranging from the grotesque to the silly to the final designs used in the movie.

"The Art of Return of the King" is a good insight into the making of the epic film, and the concept art behind everything from spiders to siege towers. Well worth having.

I always thought that an ideal Art of book should include powerful imageries that capture the movie's best scenes in initial stages. Yet this book leaves out many of those elements in favor of blurred panoramic art pieces that I found rather wasteful to the content of the book.Don't get me wrong, I like this book. Most of the artworks are astounding, it's just that I found many of the splash pages should've been devoted to more breathtaking images such as the Fell Beasts attacking Minas Tirith or Sam fighting off Shelob.

Most excellent in scope and creative backdrop for the Myth that Sanctifies. As in the other two books marking out the Trilogy from the birthing chamber of the mind and heart of the Artisans, this third edition follows nicely in the footsteps of excellence, adding richness and depth and further insight and stimulation of the imagination. I recomned this work, as well as the prior two, as a glimpse or pulling back of the curtain if you will, of the work, creativity and passionate concepts of the dedicated and visionary Artists that midwifed the Divinely inspired work of J. R. R. Tolkien and typological world of Middle Earth.

This is a great book about the artwork created for "The Return of the King" part of "The Lord of the Rings" that one will enjoy reading over and over again.

The final in the "Art Of" series, Gary Russel does a good job of tying up the loose ends, mainly concerning the conceptual design and final presentation. Daniel Falconer's concept art is of particular interest here, and Randy Cook as well, showcasing their excellent and experimental work well here. I really enjoy taking a few hours off, sitting down and reading a really good movie book cover to cover on a warm summer day and this one fits the bill admirably. With character and costume sections covered well, this book has become one of the best. A good price tag means you're not looking too hard for any flaws (And there are none) aswell. Informative and always fascinating, this is perfect coffee table reading. A Must-have for LOTR fans who want every single piece of movie making history.

I've been waiting since December to get this! They kept delaying the dates 'Dec. 2003' to 'Jan 2003' now at last it's February and it SHOULD be available to buy online AND in store. I must say, the wait is worth it. As one would expect, this is a great book which continues where 'Art of The Two Towers' left off. A really great conclusion to the 'Art of Lord of the Rings' books. I find these books great companions the Extended Edition DVDs.

I totally agree with the previous review written by E. A. Solinas.
This is an excellent reference and background book for the LOL Fellowship of the Ring movie.

Title: Lord of The Rings The Return of The King by J R.R. Tolkien, ISBN 0-345-33973-8, Houghton Mifflin, 1955, 506pp.

Genre: Fantasy

Major Characters:
* Frodo Baggins, hobbit, son of Bilbo Baggins, ring bearer
* Sam Gamgee, hobbit, Frodo's gardener and companion
* Gandalf the White, the wizard who started the quest of the ring
* Aragorn, human, heir to the throne of Gondor
* Legolas, elf, aids Aragorn in his struggle against Sauron
* Merriadoc Brandybuck, hobbit, journeys with Frodo on his quest
* Peregrine Took, hobbit, journeys with Frodo on his quest
* Gimli, dwarf, aids Aragorn in his struggle against Sauron
* Gollum, hobbit (?), leads Sam and Frodo to mount doom
* Faramir, human, son of Denathor
* Denathor, human, steward of Gondor
* Theoden, human, king of Rohan
* Eomer, human, nephew of Theoden, heir to the throne of Rohan
* Eowen, human, daughter of Theoden
* Sauron, supernatural, maker of the one Ring

Plot: In this book, Frodo and Sam, led by Gollum, slowly make their way closer to Mount Doom. They are faced with every type of bad fortune, lack of water, food, and will to survive. The constant threat of orc attack looms dark over their whole quest. And to add to these atrocities, they are ever plagued by the lurking presence of Gollum.
Many times over the course of the book, Gollum seems to have disappeared. However, he always defies the odds and return to stalk the companions. His need for the "precious" makes him more dangerous. In the end, however, it is his greed that saves Middle Earth.
Despite these setbacks, Fordo and Sam slowly make their way towards their destination. When they finally reach Mount Doom, Frodo cannot give up the ring. His will slowly deteriorated, until he was more like Gollum than Sam. He claims the Ring as his own and puts it on.
Gollum then pounces on him and bites off his finger. Removing the ring from Frodo's finger, Gollum celebrates. While dancing with his "precious", Gollum teeters on the edge of the lava and falls. In this way, the quest is finished by the one who was trying to stop it.
Meanwhile, Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas must travel through the land of the dead to gather an army. They travel to the realm of the ghosts and try to convince them to join them. At first his efforts are futile. The King of the Dead will only serve the King of Gondor.
Aragorn then reveals the blade of Isildur, the blade of his fore fathers. Only then do the dead begin to sway. Finally, the army of the dead joins them, and aids them in their plight. But time is running short for Gondor.
Sauron's army is advancing on Gondor. Gandalf, the White, rides toward Gondor. With him he brings Merry, one of the original companions. On reaching Gondor, they find a broken old man tyrannically holding the throne. Denathor, the steward of Gondor, refuses to relinquish his throne to the rightful king.
Merry, on seeing the sorrow that the old king feels, pledges his allegiance to him. He is made into a guard. His small stature, which in no way applies to his courage, does not stop him from fighting. And when the orcs attack, he fights with the bravest of the soldiers.
King Theoden rides with his party of men to aid Gondor. Thousands of his bravest soldiers ride with him, including Merry the hobbit, Eomer, his nephew and heir, and Eowen, his daughter. Merry and Eowen, who are riding together, face the Witch King, Sauron's general. Together, they kill him, sending his troops into mayhem.
Aragorn returns to his home and claims his throne. He makes Faramir, Denathor's son, the steward of Gondor, after his father's suicide. He marries Arwen, an elf whom he loves and lives his life in peace. The true king of Gondor returned to his throne.
The hobbits return to their home, and find it ruled by Saruman. They must then begin a new quest, a quest to save their home. They force the wizard to leave. As he leaves, he is murdered by Wormtongue, his slave.
Then, when all is well, Sam gets married and Merry and Pippin return to their old life style. Frodo, however, cannot readapt to his life. He goes with Gandalf to live with the elves. He gives his home, and his most prized possession, his and Bilbo's book, to Sam.

Evaluation: I enjoyed this book greatly. I found that the masterful writing was rivaled only by the intricate plot. His use of figurative language is exquisite. His character development made me feel that they were real people. His description of the setting made me feel like I was there.
This book inspired me as a young reader to read more books, and jumpstarted my reading career. After reading this book, I began to read many books including non-fiction. Since first reading this book, I have reread it ten or more times. While reading, I could not put it down, and would read any chance I was given hardly stopping even to take notice of my family and even teachers.

Related Titles:
Books:
Lord of The Rings The Two Towers J.R.R. Tolkien
Lord of The Rings The Fellowship Of The Ring J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hobbit J.R.R. Tolkien

Movies:
Lord of The Rings Return of The King (2004)
Lord of The Rings Two Towers (2002)
Lord of The Rings Fellowship of The (2001)

The last of the Lord of the Rings books was my personal favorite. It took all of the sub plots that had been going on throughout the book and made them all come together at the end. As in all cases the book is wat better then the movie, and if you are thinking about just watching the movie you are missing out on many events that happen. The book also paints its own picture in your head and takes you to a fantacy world where wizards and evil beast come to life. Humans are not the most powerful creatures and are actually regarded as weak. I would tell people of all ages to read this book, it is for all ages. I loved it!