The Ending..

Rating: Null/10 (30 March 2002)

Not only is this the best movie of 2001, but it is clearly one of the greats of all time. What a difficult movie to make! And a huge risk! I don't rightly understand some of the reviews on here. Maybe I had an advantage going into the theater because I have read the books several times over the years. Because of that, I have a difficult time imagining the movie experience without my already developed love for the story and characters. Maybe Jackson primarily created this film for those who have read the books.
I see people criticize the non-ending and I get confused. Did somebody actually expect a different ending? I see people criticize that the heroes were too successful against astounding odds, and that "at least Boromir died." Did somebody actually expect others to perish? The ending is not a cliffhanger! The story has been around for about half a century and are among the most read books of all time. The Fellowship of the Ring has had the same ending since its creation. After pondering the different reviews here, I can only conclude that this movie is an entirely different experience for those who have read the books than for those who have not read the books.
My only gripe against this movie is that many of the fight scenes were filmed too closely. I did not like some of the camera angles during the more intense battles, and believe more could have been done to enhance the battle's impact on the viewer. Because of that and because movies are never as good as the books that inspire them, I rate this movie a 9/10 instead of 10/10.