Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Lord of the Rings: Return of the King's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 27 December 2003.

Overall comments and recommendations

Return of The King is a film tailored for the adult market although teenagers of both sex would be greatly attracted to the heroic actions of the heroes and the spectacular visual effects presented through out the film. The length of the film and adult themes presented in the film would appear uninteresting to most, if not all children.

It is suggested that reading of the original works prior to viewing the film may assist adolescent viewers in dealing with the on-screen violence and horror, as reading the book will allow the reader to form their own images and anticipate some of the more frightening images in the movie.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie Lord of the Rings: Return of the King contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

Return of the King is based upon the third book of J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy The Lord of The Rings. The film is of the fantasy genre complete with castles, wizards, knights, dwarfs, hobbits, trolls, goblins, etc. It contains adult and supernatural themes with high level violence.

The film completes the trilogy, describing the continuation of the exploits of five separate but connecting groups of characters:

• Lord Aragorn, (the returning King), Legolas the elf, and Gimli the dwarf
• the two hobbits, Merry and Pippin
• Gandalf the white wizard
• King Theoden and the riders of Rohan
• the two hobbits, Frodo and Samwise.

After the battle of Helm’s Deep, Lord Aragorn, accompanied by Legolas and Gimli, enlists the aid of an army of ghost warriors (the dead men of Dunharrow) who help them in the battle to defend Minas Tirith against the Dark Lord Sauron’s invading army of orcs, trolls and other nasties. Following the victory at Minas Tirith, Aragorn, together with Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf and an army of thousands march upon the Black Gate of Mordor where, although greatly outnumbered, they challenge the dark lord Sauron.

The two hobbits, Merry and Pippin, gather the tree shepherds, the Ents and lead them to see the destruction wreaked by Saruman on the trees surrounding the tower of Orthanc.

Gandalf the white wizard, rides to Minas Tirith to warn the steward of Gondor, Lord Denethor, of the impending invasion. During the siege of Minas Tirith, Gandalf plays a major role in the defence of the city.

King Theoden, with an army of six thousand riders of Rohan, ride to the assistance of Denethor where they engage the invading force of orcs in a fierce battle, the battle of the Pelennor fields. The Rohirrim then march with Lord Aragorn to the Black Gates of Mordor.

Meanwhile, Frodo and Samwise, guided by the creature Gollum, continue on their quest to destroy the one ring of power by throwing it into the fires of Mount Doom. After escaping both the giant spider Shelob and a band of orcs, Frodo, once again with the assistance of Samwise, reaches the fires of Mount Doom at the same time as Lord Aragorn’s army reaches the Black Gates.

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

The violence presented in Return of The King, while not highly graphic is portrayed in both a realistic and unrealistic manner. Examples of violence resulting in death and injury, are people:

• being impaled on lances and swords
• being decapitated
• being crushed underneath huge boulders
• having their throats torn out and shot by arrows, etc, with death and injury resulting.

Other violence is portrayed in a highly glamorised and unrealistic manner. At one point Legolas scales a huge Mumakil (giant elephant) and single handedly kills all on board including the giant beast while finally sliding down the trunk of the Mumakil and calmly stepping onto the ground.

The violence enacted by good side is performed for the most part by attractive heroes and nearly always successful. Violence is also enacted by one of the heroines of the story, Eowyn, niece to Theoden who single handedly kills a dragon like creature ridden by the Witch King (Sauron’s number one).

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

There are continuous scary images capable of terrifying children under the age of eight years including:

• hideously monstrous looking orcs and trolls
• dragon like creatures referred to as Fell beasts
• wargs (giant wolfs)
• the giant spider, Shelob
• ghost like images of dead men complete with decomposing bodies
• grim reaper like characters referred to as Ringwraiths
• a giant lidless eye-like image referred to as the eye of Sauron
• giant tree like creatures called Ents
• Frodo’s finger being bittern off by the creature Gollum.
• Numerous horse are killed during battles including being lifted into the air by fell beasts and dropped to the ground, or being torn apart by fell beasts.
• Once the one ring is cast into the fires of Mount Doom there are numerous images of giant towers crashing to the ground with the ground opening up and devouring Sauron’s creatures

Aged eight to thirteen

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened

All of the images listed above as capable of scaring children under the age of eight years are equally capable of scaring children eight to thirteen years of age.

Over the age of thirteen

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

The effect of the on screen horror and violence would, to an extent, depend on the individual’s level of exposure to violence and horror of the type presented in Return of the King. As the images are presented in a realistic manner, the images capable of scaring younger children would be equally capable of scaring early adolescents if the individual’s level of exposure had been limited

Sexual references

There are no sexual references in Return of The King.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is no nudity or sexual activity in Return of the King

Use of substances

There was some depiction of alcohol and tobacco consumption in Return of The King. The context of the alcohol consumption was set in either a tavern or banquet environment with there being no scene depicting the over indulgence of alcohol consumption

Coarse language

There is no coarse language in Return of The King.

The movie's message

The movie has a classic good verses evil theme, with good triumphing over evil.

There were a number of positive values presented in Return of the King worthy of parental discussion and or encouragement including:

• the conflict in mankind between darkness and light
• men’s hearts being both fickle and fragile things capable of both greatness and wickedness
• the ability of the will of people to be swayed by pride, vengeance, greed and love
• the ability of humanity to rise above itself to be proven above temptation and human weakness
• the selflessness and sacrifice of individuals for the good of others

Themes and values parents may wish to discourage include:

• violence as a means to solve conflict
• the dominance of males in controlling difficult or dangerous situations
• the theme that good always triumphs over evil simply because it is good.