The end of the fellowship, the end of a wonder of the cinematic age.

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2003)

And so it finally ends.
This film is quite simply the most awesome spectacle in the history of cinema. The claim for best film, well that's for each viewer to decide. Fantasy fiction has always been very close to my heart. For me fantasy isn't an escape from reality, it's a dramatic crucible in which we can melt away the mundanity of our lives, to find that shining centre, the bare essence of our humanity. Other viewers may not hold such fantasy landscapes so dear, it's simply a question of taste, of where we are from and where we are going in our lives.
If however you have enjoyed the previous two visits to Middle Earth, I can assure you that this final voyage will leave you breathless and awestruck.
Peter Jackson and his creative cohorts have crafted their adaptation standing in that uneasy country, between the letter of Tolkien's words and the inescapable demands of the cinematic medium. Some of the depth of the book has been sliced away. These segments have been long discussed across the Internet, I won't detail them here.
For me though, this trimming was about finding the shinning heart of Tolkien's work, not slavish and blind devotion. In a number of cases I believe that Jackson's changes have improved upon the books. If you love the book, you must learn to love the film on it's own terms, but love should come easy if your allow yourself to be swept along.
I am left though with a depressing thought. Next year at this time, I won't have another excursion to Middle Earth to look forward to, only a shadow falling out of memory and time.