Wow. (****)

Rating: 10/10 (8 January 2004)

I really liked "The Fellowship Of The Ring" back in 2001, but was slightly disappointed in "The Two Towers" the following year. I liked it, but compared to the first one it felt a little ho-hum. Not as enthralling an experience.
My point is that I'm hardly a "Lord Of The Rings" geek, so I approached this third and final installment expecting it to be pretty good, but not expecting it to blow me out of my chair. Which it did.

One of the most thrilling and breathtaking experiences I've ever had in a movie theater, "The Return Of The King" may be the most important film I've ever seen to SEE ON A BIG SCREEN. It is an indescribable feeling to be immersed so thoroughly in director Peter Jackson's vision of J.R.R. Tolkien's richly imagined land of Middle Earth. There are many sights in this film (many involving the fantastical Minas Tirith, City Of Kings) that are truly astounding. Even details like the ever-present mountains and misty, gray clouds in the background are a spectacular sight on that big screen.
The story continues. Frodo (Elijah Wood), Sam (Sean Astin), and the tormented, scheming creature Gollum are on their way to Mount Doom to finally destroy the cursed ring. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and Gandalf (Ian McKellen) must defend Minas Tirith against a final onslaught of hundreds of thousands of Orcs.
This time, Astin's heroic Sam and fellow Hobbit benchwarmer character Pippin (Billy Boyd) actually have stuff to contribute to the story, as Sam steps up, surprisingly, to be one of the saga's most admirable heroes. And who knew Sean Astin had such a brilliant performance in him?

There is amazing cinematography, a HUGE and beautiful score to go with it, probably the best (certainly the biggest and most breathtakingly visualized) battle sequence ever filmed, a terrifying giant spider, characters dangling by their fingertips from huge heights, resonant themes of love and honor and death...
Basically everything you could possibly want in an epic adventure. And then some.