Whew!

Rating: 10/10 (21 December 2003)

I've now seen "Return of the King" two times. It delivers! Peter Jackson deserves the well-earned kudos he is getting for the difficult achievement of translating Tolkien's vision of Middle Earth to the wide screen.
"Fellowship of the Ring" was good; "The Two Tower" was the best film ever made. And this final installment is very good, but not as good as "The Two Towers." The final installment of Tolkien's trilogy is definitely the most difficult to translate to the screen.
One point which I would like to make that I've not read anywhere else except in Michael Medved's review of this film is the poor job done by Viggo Mortenson. He was absolutely splendid in "The Two Towers," but in "Return of the King" he seems to have lost some of his confidence. He never takes hold of the role of Aragorn as he does in the two previous installments.
In spite of the long running time, 3 hours 20 minutes, and the many diverging story lines, this is a splendid film. I cried at the devotion showed by Sam to Frodo. And Sean Astin who plays Samwise Gangee should get an Oscar. The relationship of Sam and Frodo was the best thing in this last installment.
Of course, the special effects are mind boggling.
Ian McClellan is superb as Gandalf. He resembles St. Michael the archangel in his phsycial interpretation of the role. You sense his great love for these courageous little hobbits and of Middle Earth.
There are those who say J.R.R. Tolkien would have objected to Peter Jackson's interpretation of "The Lord of The Rings." I think Tolkien would have liked it far better than most people think.
There never has been a more Christian vision of good versus evil translated to the screen.