One Trilogy to Rule them all

Rating: 10/10 (17 December 2003)

The absence of Christopher Lee notwithstanding, this is truly the finest of the three LOTR films if not the best film ever made. Not an offhand remark because it is fresh in my mind from the 12:01 am screening last night in Stony Brook, NY either...
I, along with 99% of the theater wept openly during the last 20 minutes of this film. Not just because we get to see the characters go their separate ways, but because we knew that this is the last film and that the achievement made here by Peter Jackson will be with us forever. We wept because we felt somehow better for sticking by these three films these last two years and we are enriched because of it. We wept because finally we have seen a perfect trilogy of films that will live on long after we shuffle of this mortal coil. We wept with astonishment at what we were seeing...captivating performances...mind boggling effects...visualizations of unimaginable horror and subtle beauty that will remain with us as long as we live.
We wept because we as an audience have also been on the same quest as our heroes. We got to be part of that noble fellowship of the ring.
Thank you Peter Jackson. Thank you for giving us our dreams back. Thank you for showing Hollywood how to make movies again.
If this film doesn't win every Oscar it is nominated for, then something is really wrong with the film industry.
(Closing the yellow door)