Friends to the end: 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy has grand finale

The journey is over, the Ring has reached its ultimate destination — and the audience is exhausted.

In a good way, that is — we, like the Fellowship, have gone on a long and arduous journey, and it's left us worn out, flopped in our seats and wishing we could join those hobbits as they hoist some drinks at the end of the road. Director/co-screenwriter Peter Jackson has come to the end of his journey, too, and you can sense some reluctance to say goodbye: "The Return of the King" takes its time coming to a close, with multiple endings that stretch the running time well past the three-hour mark.

But, particularly for J.R.R. Tolkien enthusiasts, it's a good stretch; the film has a luxurious all-the-time-in-the-world sense to it, like a cat languorously extending its limbs. Jackson and his co-writers could have done some further trimming of the material — and some might argue that they should have, as there's a fair bit of repetition here, particularly in Frodo's scenes — but you have to admire the filmmakers for seizing the moment, taking the time they needed, getting it right. The "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy took years of work and cost untold hundreds of millions of dollars — and the end result, opening late tonight, is gorgeous; a rich, layered tale of a king, a wizard and two little hobbits whose courage saved their world.

Despite this film's subtitle, it's really not so much about the king (Aragorn, played with matinee-idol vigor by Viggo Mortensen), than about Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin), the brave hobbits who journey to Mordor to deposit the fabled Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. The two, accompanied by the wizened, creepy Gollum (he looks like he's made up of equal parts Chucky, Yoda and Steve Buscemi), pick their way across the craggy mountains, becoming weaker as their food supply dwindles and the Ring's powers make Frodo increasingly disoriented.

During these scenes, the epic tale that is "LOTR" becomes a charmingly small story of friendship. Wood and Astin, both round-eyed charmers, portray their hobbit counterparts as sweet innocents, depending on each other for strength. Frodo is drastically weakened — deathly pale and bruised-looking — for much of the story, so it's stalwart Sam who must lead them.

"Don't leave me here alone," he pleads with Frodo, at one point. "Don't go where I can't follow." Astin, who as Sam has a lovely, wistful quality (he always seems just on the verge of apology), at times quietly steals the movie; he's a miniature tower of strength.

Despite the movie's length, many of the other characters are seen tantalizingly briefly in "Return of the King" — teenage fans of Orlando Bloom's elf Legolas may be disappointed at how little he has to do here. And Christopher Lee, the white-bearded, treacherous wizard Saruman of the earlier two films, doesn't appear at all — Jackson elected not to use footage of the character's escape from his tower in the Battle of Helm's Deep. It's an odd omission of a major character but no doubt will appear on the DVD.

TATTOOS? And if you're a truly devoted fan who's gone all the way with your LOTR devotion in the form of a tattoo — as members of the cast did — e-mail us a photo at webmetro@seattletimes.com. Let's see your ink.

No matter; "Return of the King" is still richly populated. Ian McKellen's wise Gandalf makes heroic appearances throughout the movie, riding his white steed and swinging his staff and sword like the greatest of warriors. (And McKellen can move worlds with his kindly smile, seen to good effect late in the film.) Miranda Otto glows as the woman warrior Éowyn, whose battlefield cry of "I am no man!" brought cheers from the preview audience. And John Rhys-Davies continues to bring welcome humor as the brave, sardonic dwarf Gimli.

Playing a starring role are the special effects, all rendered with uncanny detail. The giant spider Shelob, who attacks Frodo in her sticky lair, looms quietly behind her victim before striking, letting us deliciously shiver for his fate. On the battlefield at Pelennor Fields, the united forces of Rohan and Gondor face vast armies of Orcs, some riding the elephantlike Mumakils, whose multiple trunks swing like octopus' legs. And, in a moment worthy of any great swashbuckler, Aragorn and his cohorts jump off a ship in elegant slo-mo, followed by a swarm of ghost warriors, racing like the wind and breathtakingly rendered in menthol-green mist.

All this grandeur, fittingly, comes down to a quiet, simple end. As we learned in another classic quest movie long ago, there's no place like home.

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com