excellent film - well rounded, intense, fun

Rating: 10/10 (17 December 2003)

This is an excellent film, but don't take my word for it; watch it yourself.
This movie keeps in character with the first two and does a great job of tying them all together.
It is thick with action, suspense, friendship, sacrifice, and emotion. The characters stay true to their friendships such as Sam sticking by Frodo's side through thick and thin. It also has a scene where one of the hobbits saves Gandalf's life. I teared up once and got a lump in my throat several times. It also has an appropriate level of humor with the schizophrenic Gollum/Smeagal character and competition to kill enemies between Legolas the Elf and Gimli the Dwarf.
It had many small conflicts which enriched the experience such as Gollum conniving to turn Frodo against Sam and the King of Minas Tirith sending his only remaining son on a suicide mission.
The movie had many pleasant surprises with Aragon, Gimli, and Legolas going to recruit a much needed mystery army to defend Minas Tirith. The evil forces also had their own share of surprises
with extensive use of giant elephants, trolls, bigger seige towers, and a new battering ram.
The ending was longer than the first two movies and showed how life went on for each of the characters.