Jackson is the undisputed king of all mythical worlds

Rating: 10/10 (4 January 2004)

It goes without saying that with the final chapter in the now-legendary "Rings" cycle, director Peter Jackson has concluded the most breathtakingly ambitious, staggeringly detailed, monstrously epic film trilogy in the history of the art form. But the scope, intricacy, and eternal relevancy of these three films -- really, a single work, delicately divided into three equally stunning parts -- is almost too obvious, too oft-recognized to even comment on, especially when there are so many other things to praise, so diverse a palette of achievement to choose commendations from. Consider:
In "Rings", Jackson has not only managed to successfully adapt a literary work most learned scholars of film deemed unadaptable; he has arguably created the best filmed adaptation of a source novel in motion picture history;
Jackson put together a cast comprised not of above-the-title "stars", but veteran and journeymen character actors, who both individually and as an ensemble so perfectly inhabited their characters and the artificial world those characters were a part of, that they will forever -- for good or ill -- be indistinguishable from their Middle-Earth counterparts;
Jackson put together a film trilogy that has, like "Star Wars" a generation before, redefined the standard by which superlative special effects will enhance and magnify the film experience... ...There is almost too much to say, too much to admire. This is Jackson's Sistene Chapel, his Iliad, his "walk on the moon". Like "2001: A Space Odyssey" for science fiction, "Citizen Kane" for drama and "The Godfather" for crime epics, The "Lord of the Rings" filmed trilogy will forever stand as both watershed and high-water mark, inspiration and albatross, invitation and warning, to both future filmmakers and filmgoers. It will both redefine the standard by which other films, aspiring to a certain degree of meticulous execution and artistic perfection, are measured, and intimidate all who bravely attempt to conquer the thematic, visual and dramatic landscapes that Jackson, like an earthly Sauron, has so thoroughly and inarguably conquered. James Cameron once, having scaled the peaks of cinematic achievement, declared himself "king of the world", but with these films, Jackson must be coronated king of *ALL* worlds. To quote Gandalf the White: "Now come the days of the King. May they be blessed."