The Lord of the Rings: The Art of the Return of the King

by Gary Russell

Featuring over 500 sketches, paintings, sculptures and digital artworks, as well as the expert commentaries of the actual artists throughout, this book offers a wealth of detail available nowhere else... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618430296
• ISBN13: 9780618430291
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 2.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 9.0" x 11.5"

Customer Reviews

Artistic Depth and Richness

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.

lotr freak!!!

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 s

Fantastic LOTR book!

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.

New insights into "Return of the King"

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.

Adds Depth and Appreciation to LOTR: ROTK

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