My impression after 3 viewings:

Rating: 9/10 (9 January 2004)

After seeing this film three times, I think I am ready to write a thorough review of it. I will start by writing that the first time I saw it, was the best, as I didn´t know (exactly) what was going to happen. I had read the book, so I knew the basic story, but didn´t know what possible changes they had made. The first time, on an excitement level of 1 to 3, I had a clear 3 almost to the words THE END. The second time, it dropped to 1, as some of the films shortcomings became clear to me. On the third viewing, it stabilised on a 2. Now, the following contains *SPOILERS*: The film starts off with the New Line Cinema logo, accompanied by a few bars of beautiful music that reminded me of Swan Lake. Then there is a flashback of Smeagol killing his cousin Deagol when he finds The One Ring on a fishing trip, as depicted in the book. In part, this sequense sums up the whole film: There are some powerful moments about the power of The One Ring, some unnecessarily slow moments, it could have been edited more tightly, and in the end, it goes on for too long. It also has some overdone horror-film-like moments, as it depicts Smeagol deteriorating into Gollum, but that can´t be compared to the rest of the film. And the whole thing seems like a tribute to actor Andy Serkis, who gets to be in it with his everyday face. A tribute he truly deserves for his brilliant work to bring Gollum to life, voice, movement and all, but come on, this was the start of the big K, the final film of the Big Trilogy, the one we have all been waiting for. There was no way they could screw it up, was there? Oh yes they could, precious-s, yes they could. Then we are back with Frodo, Sam and Gollum, who are about to enter the secret path to Mordor, accompanied by some modified "walking out of the Shire"-music. The music throughout the film is excellent, although it sometimes sounds like a potpourri of tunes from the two previous films, but there are plenty of new music here, too. Howard Shore has finished his work on the trilogy with honours. As for the rest of the film, there are some scenes that seems to go on for too long, the way they are usually seen in the Extended DVD, but now they are here in the theatrical release. One example is an early scene in Edoras, with Merry and Pippin dancing and singing on a table. I thought Peter Jackson had learned from the first film that such scenes should be avoided like plague, because it is embarrassing sh**, or alternatively be left to the Extended Version. But here it is, in all its inglorious glory. Throughout the film, there are lots of scenes I think they should have edited more tightly, cheesy acting moments like Gandalf telling Pippin: - We are now entering the rhealm of Gondor, when they are crossing a river on Shadowfax. Instead they could have filled in the running time by adding scenes with Saruman, at least Gandalf casting from the Order of the Istari. I am beginning to learn Jacksons techniques now, and I bet that in the Extended Version, he will slip in something with Saruman, with the palantir being dropped and all, right before Pippin jumps into the water to pick it up at Isengard early on here. Also, they should have added something with Faramir after he was saved from being burned alive by Denethor. And maybe some more scenes between Faramir and Pippin to make me understand why he had to drag Gandalf away in the middle of a battle, why it was such a big deal. And worst of all, they didn´t keep the duel between Gandalf and the Witch King of Angmar. In my opinion that is unforgiveable, but worst of all, they should have left the following dialogue to the Extended Version, too: Gandalf: - The enemys worst weapon is yet to be seen blablabla the Witch King of Angmar, head of the Nazgul leads them in battle. Pig-faced orc who seems to be second in command to Witch King later: - What about the White Wizard? Witch King: - I will crush him! Something like that. But here it is in theatrical release, and nothing happens. In fact, the Witch King and the other Nazgul do no harm whatsoever during this film, that is left to the Fell Beasts they ride on. The only thing the Witch King crushes, is Eowyns shield. I don´t know why Jackson didn´t do anything about this, but here it is. I know that the duel scene has been filmed, because I have seen a production shot of Gandalf riding towards the Witch King inside Minas Tirith, with Pippin behind him, it will show up in the Extended Version, mark my words, BUT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN HERE! Another problem with this film, is that Jackson has said that this will be his trophy for all his hard work on the trilogy. Fair enough, he (sort of)deserves it, but it looks like parts of the film have been made for his own pleasure, rather than for the average moviegoer. Examples are his cameo as a hippie-like pirate on one of the pirate-ships, and the appearance of the Haradrim. The first time I saw it, the latter was absolutely awesome, but the two other times, it seemed more goofy. The main reason was the overly caricatured southrons who were guiding the Mumakil. I have seen other comments by people who were disgusted by that, and I agree.
Also, the director seems to be afraid of letting the grandeur overshadow the fact that he was once a director of improvised, low-budget splatterfilms like Bad Taste. That pig-faced orc who is second in command to the Witch King and his gap-toothed friends look like one of the funny aliens in that film. The question is: Was Sauron short of personnel? It doesn´t look that way, but did he really make that idiotic orc a high_ranking officer, considering all the ghastly creatures on show here? Sauron himself died on post as a lighthousekeeper, so he can´t answer. Was that all that he was? All that is not to say that about 170 minutes of this film is not the definition of a grand epic, with battle-scenes of the never-before-seen kind, because it is. In my opinion, they could have cut the running-time with about 30 mins, added about 10 mins of details from the book (Gandalf finding Denethors palantir comes to mind), and they could have gotten a standard 180 minutes movie. About 15 minutes could have been chopped from the end, which Peter Jackson turns into a never-ending Hobbit Soap Opera. Seriously, this part of the film is the deadest piece of filmed material I have ever seen. They might as well have put a camera on the deserted plain of Gorgoroth, and filmed it for 15 mins. When Frodo does a voice over while in Bag End, I thought about that voice saying: - Blablablabla...so are the Days of Our (Hobbit?-) Lives. I was pleased when I read that The Scouring of the Shire-part had been cut from the film, because I knew it would be an anticlimax, but instead, Peter Jackson goes ahead and makes his own anticlimax. Anyone better? The whole deadness thing starts about when Saurons tower is destroyed, and Frodo and Sam ends up on a rock-island in the lava. Frodo then wakes up after they are taken away by eagles in a Garden of Eden-like place, and Samwise stands there, giving him a look that indicates that they had just taken part in the gay pride parade. The coronation sequense is a slight upturn, but then they are back in the good old Shire, and everything that happens gives watching paint dry competition in the boring stakes. Finally, after Frodo has sailed away with the elves, Sam walks into his hobbit-hole, and the pain is over. Lets check the title again: It was THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING, NOT: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE HOBBIT TO HIS HOLE. I believe that it is a shame that such a great, final film of a trilogy should be ruined by such a dead end, because movies are judged as a whole. The worst disappointment is that the filmmakers had the resources - detailed source-material, big budget, good actors and SFX-people, to make a film that could keep you, the moviegoer thrilled from the first to the last minute on repetitive viewings, but they failed because of sloppy editing, bad choices and a self-indulgent director.