A bit disappointing

Rating: Null/10 (5 April 2004)

Spoilers!
First of all, ROTK is my favourite book of the trilogy. There are quite a few parts of it that pack a wallop But it must have been the prevalance of special effects that removed alot of the humanity in the book. It still is a good film, but as far as epics is definetely below The Fellowship of the Ring, and Master and Commander.
There are parts that work great, like the appearance of Minas Tirith and also Minas Morgul, and the change from the book regarding the lighting of the beacons did have an epic sweep. But here are the shortfalls:

The battle of Minas Tirith starts good, but when the rohirrim show up, all of a sudden becomes nothing but FX. The human scale is lost.

- The charge of the oliphants. Can't remember this in the book, why borrow from The Empire Strikes Back when you are working with one of the great pieces of literature?
- The walk through the paths of the dead. Far more understated in the book, and more spooky and atmospheric. In the movie it is all dumbed down
- This has bugged me throughout the trilogy. Legolas is a woodland elf, kind of a xenophobic country bumpkin to the high elves. The two types of elves are not too fond of each other. They definitely don't hang around. Why is Legolas presenting Arwen at the end of the film?
- Slight changes (ie. the corsair fleet seems to take a back seat,and the final battle is anticlimatic) lose their impact in the translation
- The fate of Saruman is omitted. He is one of the most important characters, kind of a middle earth Hitler, through which Tolkien was making a comment on his times
However I did like the compacted, low key ending (I wish a bit more of the film was lower key and strove to be more visionary).
7/10