Customer Reviews

Return of the King Photo Guide (Lord of the Rings)

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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"The Return of the King Photo Guide" is a treat for those wanting to revisit the rich Middle-Earth depicted in Peter Jackson's movie adaptation of "Lord of the Rings." The pictures are excellent, and if anyone has problems following the complicated storyline, this is something for them to check out.

In "Return of the King," the treacherous Gollum is leading Sam and Frodo into the Dark Lord's land of Mordor. With the fate of Middle-Earth -- and his beloved Arwen's life -- on the line, Aragorn fully accepts his fate as Gondor's future king, and recruits the help of a long-dead army. And Gandalf takes the hobbit Pippin to the ravaged land of Gondor, the last stronghold against Sauron.

The actual climax and precise endings of the film are left up to the readers' imaginations (this isn't exactly a storybook), although the final sentence hints at the bittersweet events of the ending. The prose is fairly standard, nothing special; quotes from the film are littered through it, some directly from the books.

The pictures are what make this book stand out, with phenomenal shots of Minas Tirith, Pippin in his silver and black Gondorian armor, a helmeted Gondorian guard, an angelic shot of Eowyn, two Elven smiths reforging Aragorn's sword, and Frodo fending off Shelob with the phial Galadriel gave him. What's more, there are scenes that never made it to the final film, such as Aragorn tending the wounded Faramir in the Houses of Healing, or Frodo and Sam looking at a broken statue crowned with flowers. (Somewhat disappointing are the lack of pictures of the monstrous spider Shelob, or the ghostly army of the dead)

While it won't satisfy those longing to know the grand finale, "The Return of the King Photo Guide" will be eagerly devoured by fans of the films, with its wonderful pictures and semi-storybook outline. Definitely should be purchased for the photographs, and newbie fans may find it helpful too.

The book is thin, but pack a lot of beautiful photographs for the final instalment of the Rings Trilogy. Thing along the lines of a sketchy "Cliffnote", with pictures, it maps the last saga step by step with pictures and captions so you know what is going on in the pictures. They wonderfully cover the highlights of the story, without really ruining the plot for those who has not seen it. Only leaves, you hungry for the film! Over 70 gorgeous photos, in super quality.

For the price...this will make a nice stocking stuffer this Christmas for that Ring Addict that cannot get enough.

I wanted to review this book for people who have already seen the theatrical edition of Return of the King. The biggest thing that this photo guide adds is a major clue into what may be in the extended edition DVD of Return of the King, which will be released sometime in the fall of 2004. For example, there are some wonderful pictures of Sam and Frodo, and of Pippin and Merry, that are not in the final theatrical cut of the film, and therefore, it seems that we can expect these in the extended cut. The only criticism I have is simply that, other than these new pictures, it is of course a rehashing of the story, written somewhat like a children's book. But, like I said, it is worth it for the new photos.

I really enjoyed all 3 of the Lord of the Rings movies, but the Return of the King was my favorite of the trilogy, and this book is the perfect compliment to the movie. The 48-page guide beautifully lays out 71 fantastic photographs from the movie which include Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Faramir, Denethor, Eowyn, Theoden, bad guys, plus many more. As I paged through this book, the film was brought to life, and the 46 direct quotes from the movie script was a perfect addition to the pictures. I was brought along to Gondor, Edoras, Dwimorberg Mountain, Shelob's Lair, and all the rest of the locations and battles that the characters experienced throughout the Return of the King. This is truly a wonderful book, and I am very sure you will enjoy it as well!

This is the third in the series of photo guides for The Lord of the Rings movies. With 48 pages, the selection of pictures is extensive and sometimes includes pictures of scenes not included in the theatrical release. Although intended for children, it is a good companion to the books and movies.

Written for ages 8 and up, the descriptions are elementary and sometimes incomplete. Enjoy the pictures, and those in the first two books, but adults should read the novels for the complete story.

If you'd have looked in a certain store today, you would have found a rather distinguished-looking fellow carefully scrutinizing the children's literature aisle searching for the Return of the King photo guide. That fellow was me, and I finally located this book. I pawed through it for the better part of quarter hour, and now present my review for it.

Of course, many of these pictures surfaced on the internet before this book came out, but it's still nice to have it in book form. The book itself is rather small, but you can't judge a book by its cover, after all! There's some awesome pictures of our favorite heroes, and the perils they encounter in the upcoming cinematic release of Return of the King from New Line Cinema.

Keep in mind that this book is appealing now, but this is only because you have not seen the movie yet. Once the movie is released, the value for this book will dramatically plummet. Still, it's a thrill to get a look at a lot of the pictures and scenes from the upcoming movie that the world is waiting for.

And, in case you are concerned about these sorts of things, it goes without saying that this book contains many spoilers about the movie. I keep up on all the latest news, and still found one thing about the movie I did not know.

Great book, great buy, and great preview of the movie we're all looking forward to!

The pictures illustrated are very good but unfortunately I found that my copy of "The Return of the King" ends at the picture of Frodo and Sam climbing up Mt. Doom with Gollum trailing behind. It doesn't go any further...what happens to the ring, the results of the battle at the Black Gate, the coronation, etc. are all missing from the book. If I were to show it to children/adults they would be wondering what happen's next. Climbing up Mt. Doom is not a way to end a story.

This book prefectly describes the movie. I highly recommend it to anyone to buy and read.

This book, although fairly short and can be read within about 5 minutes, has wonderful pictures and descriptions. I like reading it every once in a while, but mainly just look at the wonderfully high quality photos of the different characters and places. I highly recommend it.

I bought this book today. I love it. There are many new pictures in there . For "Lord of the rings fan" it is amazing. The book tells you the whole story. Now you can compare the book and the movie.