by Heath Lynch, Contributing Writer
Whelp, normally I do some tedious preamble here, wherein I talk about all the goings on in the contemporary movie world. But for once, let’s cut to the chase. You saw what year this month’s column was for; you know where this is headed. Let’s get right to it. Because we have a lot of Lord of the Rings glazing to do, and I couldn’t be more excited to do it! As a reminder, with our Oscars: What If… series we look at categories the Academy Awards should be honoring, but, for one reason or another, they aren’t. So, we’re going to imagine what could’ve been regarding past Oscar seasons. Hopefully someday the Academy will do right by these creative talents, but until then we must do the Academy’s job for them. Let’s look back at the year Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected as the Governator, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry to the atmosphere, electric car company Tesla was founded, LeBron James was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers, and MySpace was launched. It is time to examine the films of 2003, celebrated at the Oscars in 2004. Let’s see what could have been!
Best Stunts and Choreography
Given to the best achievement in dance, stunts, related performances, and overall choreography
And the nominees are… Kill Bill: Volume 1, The Last Samurai, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Matrix Reloaded, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
And the winner is… The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King!
Over my past two columns, The Lord of the Rings franchise has taken home four additional Oscars. As I spoke about in my intro, sometimes you just know which direction things are going. With the actual Oscars gilding The Return of the King with 11 trophies, the only thing left to ponder is how many more it’ll earn here. Well, let’s start with Best Stunts and Choreography.
On sheer massive, epic scale alone, you pretty much have to award The Return of the King. I mean, just wow. Everything that’s achieved in the Siege of Mines Tirith and the Battle of Pelennor Fields alone is masterful. In the Extended Edition of this film, the battle goes on for about 50 minutes of runtime without a single dull moment. Massive sword fights, soldiers climbing and falling off, the parapets, triumphant cavalry charges with multitudes of actual stunt workers on horseback, people swinging from oliphaunts, and so much more. It’s a nonstop action adventure sequence that’s packed with more stunt work than most other films have in their entire runtime. And that’s before considering the multitude of other astounding scenes and performances in this movie. It’s simply staggering, and only Kill Bill: Volume 1 even comes close to earning the Stunts and Choreography Oscar, but it’s definitely going home to Middle-earth.
Best Performance by Voiceover or Motion Capture
Given to the best off screen voice performance, or on screen motion captured performance
And the nominees are… Albert Brooks as Marlin in Finding Nemo, Willem Dafoe as Gill in Finding Nemo, Ellen DeGeneres as Dory in Finding Nemo, Joaquin Phoenix as Kenai in Brother Bear, Andy Serkis as Sméagol/Gollum in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
And the winner is… Andy Serkis as Sméagol/Gollum in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King!
There was no one else. It wasn’t even a possibility. This was always Serkis’ Oscar. As I said last month when discussing The Two Towers, I made sure to include this category in this series specifically to award this man. So there’s no way I wasn’t going to recognize him for what is arguably the greatest performance of his entire career. Committed and earnest, while displaying true vulnerability and raw passion, all wrapped up into a physical performance that’s just as fascinating as the vocal performance, this acting job is one for the record books. Something that should be studied in film schools around the world. This performance is the reason people ask for motion capture to be a real category at the Oscars. It’s the reason Gollum has become such an iconic character in pop culture, and people are still perfecting their impressions of him decades later. It’s hypnotizing and engaging in a way few performances ever are. The joy, anger, fear, and strength of character Serkis puts on displays throughout this film is truly powerful. I couldn’t be happier to award him his much deserved Oscar.
Best Performance by an Ensemble Cast
Given to the best overall ensemble cast performance
And the nominees are… 21 Grams, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Mona Lisa Smile, Mystic River, School of Rock
And the winner is… The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King!
Okay, I’m not gonna lie, this one was damn close. I mean, damn close. Ask me on another day and Mystic River might take the award. I mean, Sean Penn and Tim Robbins won Oscars for their performances here. Marcia Gay Harden was nominated too. In fact, the Academy would’ve likely awarded Mystic River. But I do still feel this should go to Return of the King, because the overall ensemble performance in this movie is arguably unmatched. Seeing a half dozen characters interact, whether in deep emotionally driven conversation, or in massive action set pieces, to this degree of believability, with this much talent and chemistry, is spectacular. There’s a true camaraderie in this film that few can duplicate, and the fact that the movie is so long, and the spell of the perfect ensemble is never broken when there’s so many moments where it could fall flat, makes it all the more impressive. While individual performances may not have been recognized by the Academy at the time, it’s hard to think of a greater ensemble team in the history of cinema than the Fellowship. And that’s not even counting the dozens of other characters that play major roles in this story. And every single performance is tremendous. So as contentious as it may be, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is our winner for Best Ensemble Performance.
Best Directorial Debut
Given to the best achievement in direction by a debut directing talent
And the nominees are… Sylvain Chomet for The Triplets of Belleville, Catherine Hardwicke for Thirteen, Patty Jenkins for Monster, Tom McCarthy for The Station Agent, Andrew Stanton for Finding Nemo
And the winner is… Andrew Stanton for Finding Nemo!
Hey, what would you like to do with your directorial debut? Oh, I don’t know. Perhaps I’ll make one of the greatest animated films of all time. A true masterpiece that’ll be considered an all time classic. Good on ya, Stanton. Mission accomplished.
There were actually a lot of great debuts this year. So many, in fact, that it was really hard trimming it down to just five nominees. But there was no question as to who should be the winner. Finding Nemo is a towering achievement. The growth in Pixar’s technology made this one of the most colorful and vibrant animated films of all time. It added detail and texture to characters and objects in fascinating new ways, making the film a visual treat to behold. The vocal performances Stanton got out of his cast, especially with Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, and Willem Dafoe, are staggeringly strong. Comedic and exciting, while also being heartfelt and emotional when necessary. And this adventurous story that’s narratively about going on a quest to save your son, but thematically about parenthood and allowing your kids to grow, is entertaining and beautiful. Enough cannot be said about this perfect work of art. Stanton absolutely deserves this Oscar for his truly exquisite work with Finding Nemo.
Best Popular Film
Given to the best audience supported motion picture that earned a spot as one of the top 25 box office films of the year.
And the nominees are… Bruce Almighty, Elf, Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
And the winner is… The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King!
Yup, that’s right! For the first time in the history of this series, in over 29 columns, covering films from 1975 to 2003, one singular movie has secured four out of the possible five bonus Oscars. That makes for a total of eight extra Oscars awarded to this historic franchise at large over the past three articles. Man, Middle-earth is riding high!
But honestly, was there ever any doubt?
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King made a staggering $377 million domestically and $763.7 million internationally for a worldwide total of $1.14 billion. Does that sound like a lot? You’re damn right it is, but it’s even more than you think because of, well, time. When you account for over two decades of inflation, that’s $644.4 million domestically, $1.3 billion internationally, and $1.948 billion worldwide. Holy hell. That’s easily enough to make it the number-one movie of the year in all three of those categories, with Finding Nemo in second place. Remember Barbie last summer? And how everyone was losing their minds at how much money it was making? That it was a true phenomenon? Of course you remember. Well, Barbie made $636.2 million domestically, $809.4 million internationally, and $1.446 billion worldwide. That’s right, adjusted for inflation Return of the King made half a billion dollars more than the global Barbie spectacle. People were seeing this in droves, then turning around, walking back to the theater, buying another ticket, and seeing it again. I mean, I was one of those people, seeing this movie three times in theaters myself. This was beloved by audiences. Arguably as popular as any film has ever been.
Alright, so it was definitely popular, but was it beloved by critics? Awarded by film organizations and considered a good film? Well yeah, duh.
The climactic ending to The Lord of the Rings trilogy sits with a 94% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an impressive score of 94 on Metacritic. They labeled it a “must-see” based on universal acclaim. Return of the King was nominated for 11 Oscars, and it swept the board, winning all 11 trophies tying an Academy Awards record for the most ever Oscar wins by a single film. The movie that won the second most Oscars that year? Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. It won two. Return of the King also won Best Picture at the BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and all of the Producers, Directors, Screen Actors, and Writers Guild Awards. In every way this movie could be praised and awarded, it was. To this day, it is considered by many to be one of the greatest films of all time.
So when you are one of the most popular films ever made, raking in more at the box office than most films ever dream of making, and you sweep in awards categories in ways that are virtually unheard of, and possess staggering critic ratings and reviews… I mean, it doesn’t get much more cut-and-dry than this. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the hands-down, easy, runaway winner for Best Popular film!
Thanks for joining me on another trip down memory lane to see what could’ve been! We got to reminisce about The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ad nauseam, and I loved every second of it! I hope you did too. Be sure to come back next month when we actually get to look at more than one movie from a given year that dominates everything else in its path. Films like The Aviator, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Next time we’ll return for the Oscars of 2005, celebrating the films of 2004!
You can read more from Heath Lynch, and follow him on Letterboxd