A Touchstone for all others

Rating: 10/10 (7 August 2010)

A review of "The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King";
Audio/sound: 10/10 "Return of the King" deserves much praise for its auditory work, making the viewer really enjoy this movie. Audio/music is a very important part of a movie, and this movie certainly reaches sky-high on that level. Every bit of music and sound mixing fits extremely well with the scenes in which they have been placed.
Editing: 10/10 With a very few exceptions, the editing done for 'RotK' is close to flawless. It does not get confusing to watch, neither is it boring or slowed down at any time. The pace is done with the mind of a perfectionist. You are kept on your toes throughout the movie.
Visual Effects: 10/10 Although not completely perfect, there is not any moment of bad effects which would have made many disappointed. They are in fact, extremely well done, and deserve 10/10.
Screenplay: 10/10 The screenplay writers deserves extremely much praise for what has been achieved. When watching the movie, everything seemed to fit perfectly well. Screenplay is a very important part of any movie, and in comparison to 'RotK', no movie I have ever watched comes close to it.
Directing: 10/10 Peter Jackson is a perfectionist, and he boldly takes on one of the hardest directing jobs possible, and, he succeeds! The 'LotR'-trilogy is beyond doubt the best that has ever been made, and 'RotK' is it's crowning masterpiece.
Acting performances: 10/10 There is no best acting ensemble, but there is best performances by an acting ensemble, and in 'RotK' everyone does a truly amazing job. There is a harmony in the ensemble and all are clearly doing the best that they can. Every actor glows in the scenes which they are a part of, and makes the movie ever so much more enjoyable. 10/10!
Art design: 10/10 Every detail, from minor to major, is done to perfection. We really get a feel that this is "Middle-earth", which is not by any means an easy job. In this movie, this remains one of the most important aspects, and is done beautifully.
Costume designs: 10/10 As with the art design, this is also done to perfection. We really see "Middle-earth" and with very much thanks to the clothing and costumes.
Make-up/Hair: 10/10 This too plays an important role, and is of course extremely well done. From the beautiful elf to the ugly orc, all is congruent and we believe what we see to be "Middle-earth".
Summary: What we have here is a movie that is done with careful perfection and a loving heart and with the utmost respect for the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. The achievements of every part of the movie is undeniably close to perfection, and what we are left with is a stunning experience that will leave marks on anyone seeing it.
It is no exaggeration to call this movie "the greatest of all time", and the evidence is there for all of us to see. You don't have to enjoy the story to see that what is created is a masterpiece of movie-making.
This is the only movie I have seen that deserves a "10/10" overall, and I am in fact surprised that it is not above all others at the "top-list" of IMDb. But on top of the list or not, this IS the best work ever done in the motion picture market, and has made movie-making into an art!