What a finish!

Rating: 9/10 (22 July 2004)

Return of the King was an excellent send-out of what should be one of the greatest movie trilogies ever!
The story in this "episode" largely focuses on Sam and Frodo's journey to reach Mount Doom in an attempt to destroy the "One Ring". Meanwhile Aragorn, Gandolf and co continue to battle Sauron's forces so that Frodo can complete his quest.
After the mainly singularly focused (with a dash of horror) Fellowship of the Ring and its complicated follow-up, The Two Towers, with huge battle-scenes - The Return of the King, in my opinion, blends what was so good about the first two films and combines it into one climatic powerhouse finale. Whereas Frodo's quest is more character driven with a horrible sense of dread, Aragorn and Co's are more about the huge battle sequences.
All the acting / casting is just great - it gives the whole film a certain mature weight. The SFX are incredible - I'm not a huge fan of CGI stuff - but the effects in this movie are getting fairly realistic (it doesn't look like "cheap" CGI effects - hello Star Wars!). The NZ scenery is spectacular as ever and I love the Aussie contingent in terms of acting.
Although I thought the ending was incredibly soppy and probably could have been trimmed - I think that this episode takes the cake in terms of the Lord of the Ring trilogy.