Good but flawed

Rating: 10/10 (23 December 2003)

***SPOILERS AHEAD***
Having now seen The return of the King, and having been an avid reader of `all' of Tolkiens work for over thirty years, I can at last cast a comment on it.
If I view it as a work 'based' on The Lord of the Rings, then it has merit, however, Peter Jackson has changed much of the subtle sub texts and sub plots to convert it to a visual narrative and in doing so has lost much of the depth of the work. There are also glaring gaps throughout the film that I suspect will be nicely filled when the Extended Edition DVD is released late next year.
The beginning puzzled me; surely the story of the finding of the ring of power should have been shown during Gandalfs explanation of the ring to Frodo, not as a prelude to the final part of the trilogy.
Gandalf had wondered at the knowledge possessed by Denethor and discovered that he used the Palatir as Denethor burned on the pyre, but instead we were treated to the scene whereby a madman leaps in flames to his death. We have the unrequited love between Eowyn and Aragorn seemingly resolved with no explanation. We had the ludicrous situation of Faramir, Merry and Eowyn at deaths door only to see them apparently healed when Aragorn is crowned king. Of course; those among us here who have read the literature know these things happened in the Houses of Healing, where incidentally it became rumoured through the city that the king had returned and whereby Eowyn found Faramir.
If anyone here has read the appendices to the book, they would also know that Arwen does in fact eventually go to Valinor and as for Enduril (Flame of the West), that was forged before they left Rivendell and once again played a major part in the actual mythology.
Peter Jackson also extends his licence to changing the relationship between Sam and Frodo. In fact the pair drew closer together the deeper into danger they marched. Sam was in Shelobs Lair with Frodo for good reason, however, the sequence is very well filmed. I was also disappointed not to see Sauraman as he played a vital role in finishing the tale.
But to my mind the worst piece of fiddling was with the end. Tolkien was very careful with 'The Scouring of the Shire' because he wanted to show the reader that your own home could become a residence for evil if we allow it. He learned that after seeing how the civil authorities sided with the Nazi's on the Channel Islands occupation in WWII.
Like I said at the beginning, the film has merit, the battle scenes are wonderful as is the depiction of Sauron and I was greatly impressed by the Tower of Minas Morgul.
I would give this a 3.5 star rating, not because of any cinematography or acting but because of the dreadful character changes.