Long, but spectacularly done

Rating: Null/10 (11 January 2004)

(this review was written by a non-die-hard fan of the series.)
The final segment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was spectacular, as the acting, directing and visual effects were all awesome! One aspect I couldn't stand in the books was it's length and tendency to drag on, along with its anti-climactic ending. The movie, unfortunately (in my opinion) kept that original feel of the novel. I thought a good 40 minutes, at least, could have been edited out, to make for a more captivating movie experience (the last 20 minutes could have easily been taken out, unmissed!). Just because Tolkien had it that way, does not mean it was perfect! I also thought there was too much sappiness - everybody was crying over everything! There was no machismo or stoicism amongst the hobbit heros. I didn't like that feature either.
I realize the above complaints will not be accepted by Tolkien fans, as they wanted the movies to be exactly like the books. I think that's foolish, as one could put down a book to continue some other time, while if one were to get up and leave a movie theater... A movie is a different medium, and the story is meant to be conveyed accordingly - 3 and half hour movies make my butt sore!!
The visuals were all spectacular, with far-shot epic battle sequence and a flawless blend of CG and live-action - it put the Matrix trilogy to shame with the amount of shots that were inconspicuously CG!!
Overall, I really did enjoy the movie, but for those of you who would rather not sit through the whole thing, leaving exactly 20 minutes early (the whole thing is 3 hours and 20 minutes long) would be perfect - nothing really happens then anyway, trust me.