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.


fantastic book   September 27, 2004
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Beautiful sketches throughout the whole book. Especially the ones of Minas Tirith. Exquisite detail of the whole city from angles. You could sit for ages and just stare at each picture.
I also find the digital paintings in this book excellent as well.
It just makes you realise how important these artists and designers are to a film; with drawings of props, swords, costumes, chairs etc.
With each sketch, painting, design, or concept comes detailed analyses and explanations by the artists themselves. Brilliant.
An excellent addition to any LOTR fan's collection.


Beautiful   August 10, 2004
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This book is packed with georgeous illustrations, photos, concept art and artwork. The artists involved add descriptions and explanations to their work in little 'soundbites'. It doesn't give much insite into the process of filmmaking, the actors or the story as such, but it provides a fascinating insite into the work that goes into those things which make the film 'feel' real. I reccomend it for anyone who is a LOTR compleatist, or has an intrest in art or prop design. It's not a film guide, and contains few shots from the film itself. It's essentially a book about art, and if you're into that, I recomend this 100%.


Adds Depth and Appreciation to LOTR: ROTK   March 11, 2004
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

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


By far the best tome of the three   February 12, 2004
 12 out of 12 found this review helpful

Publishing production art from a major movie that demanded a lot of world-making can be a tricky thing - you're letting people get a glimpse of the meanderings of the creative process, and this can, some would say, dispel a bit of the mystique. People might even like some of your rejected concepts better. As for the first bit, I've long since discovered that knowing the inner workings of the cinematic medium actually enhances the enjoyment. And as for the second - well, everyone's idea of Middle-earth is a tad different from the next person's; I just drool every time I see a Daniel Falconer design, including his discarded ones...

What's important is that this book is the best repository of the production art done for a LotR movie so far. It doesn't have the layout that hampered The Art of Fellowship; and it covers things like Gondorian Armor, Fell Beasts, and the Tower of Barad-dur, which should have been included in The Art of Two Towers, as that book had considerably less ground to cover. But none of those items feel short-shrifted, fortunately. And even though Alan Lee spent by far the most time designing the film yet again, this finally feels like a true collaboration between him and John Howe - who was mostly charged with designing the Mordor stuff in the trilogy, and was thus a rare visitor before. The previously-not-featured designs from Dan Hennah and his art department are a real bonus, so that by the end of it you feel that no stone has been left unturned in the design process. And even though any 'Art of' book has to exclude much by default, this one feels thorough; for every piece of production art you get a sizable blurb by the artist involved, and those are longer and more detailed than in the previous two.

Furthermore, the book is over 30 pages longer than its predecessors, and wisely incorporates much material that is going to appear in the Extended Edition of the film. If you wish to get a single tie-in book to this film, or have to pick one Art of book among the three, this one packs the most punch and probably has the most lasting value.