A Masterpiece. But don't tell screenit.com

Rating: 10/10 (24 December 2003)

First, I want to thank IMDB for allowing users to vote on films, rather than having a reviewer on staff. By the time a film receives tens of thousands of votes, it becomes clear that there is more to a movie than a die-hard core group of admirers could conjure up.
Take your children to "Return of the King"...then take them again. It's scary and chilling in some places, but those incidents are outweighed by the wonderful examples of leadership, bravery, dedication and undying hope, along with some gentle humor that (believe it or not) doesn't go the typical Hollywood route of being obnoxious or gross. It really is a film for all ages. Really. I can easily ignore the random IMDB user who dismisses the LOTR Trilogy because I know that those who sing its praises aren't all cave-dwellers who have to "escape" to Middle Earth to feel alive. In fact, I'd bet that a lot of the film Trilogy's most devoted fans are people who have never read the books, but are responding to 3 of the most moving, beautiful, and memorable films ever made. LOTR speaks to the best parts of human nature: courage, loyalty, commitment, and true friendship, just to name a few. As a parent, I am indebted to PJ and his colleagues for bringing an uplifting and inspirational story to the screen; one I can bring my family to and not cringe every ten minutes. Yes, these are hobbitts, elves, dwarfs, wizards, humans and one very nasty eye, but the lessons are here and now; good for the home and for the world today. Most all agree. I've found that, almost without exception, the "External Reviews" for LOTR as listed by IMDB, are 90% ecstatic, with the remaining 10% still conceding that the Trilogy is both exceptional and absolutely worth seeing. So, when I popped over to ScreenIt.com (which presents itself as a parents' guide to films), I was both amazed and disgusted that their invisible "reviewer" had virtually nothing good to say about ROTK. The review was totally biased against all aspects of the movie. The site begrudgingly yielded the film a 6/10 rating, complaining all the way. As someone said here earlier: to those who rate LOTR 0/10, please cancel your registration to IMDB, for there simply is no intelligent way that a person can slam these movies across the board. And so I'm hoping to alert parents and moviegoers alike that not all "professional" reviewers feel the need for objectivity or responsibility, even in this case, which seems clear-cut to most of us who have seen the films and who would wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone who asked, or anyone who didn't ask as well!! I suppose that in the case of anything that is unabashedly positive, there are always those who (like Saruman) cannot resist the shadows. Time will prove that the Trilogy is a milestone and a masterwork. And then misguided websites with axes to grind will be exposed as lacking the basic credentials to be advising parents, or anyone else for that matter. Again, take your children to ROTK over these holidays and you'll have even one more reason to celebrate.