Let's all just calm down with this 'best trilogy ever' talk....

Rating: 4/10 (19 December 2003)

****SPOILERS AHEAD****
Okay, I see that the ultra die-hard LOTR fans didn't waste anytime pledging their feverish loyalty and almost mindlessly 'expressing' their utter amazement with ROTK here on IMDb; hence its #8 spot on the Top 250 with a 9.1/10 rating. But lets all just calm down with all this 'best movie ever' and 'greatest trilogy of all time' talk. I even read some people admit that they never even saw any of the Godfathers....therefore their claim of the LOTR being the greatest trilogy holds NO WEIGHT.
This movie was pretty good, the visual effects were a sight to behold....they were amazing. The landscapes along with the battle scenes, particularly the different creatures, were astounding. With that said, without the loads and loads of CGI, what real substance would ROTK really have? The film is WAY TOO LONG, and the mere thought of an 'extended edition' actually existing makes me shiver. If that's the case, why was this movie STILL 3 hours and 30 minutes??? At times its simply a bore, as I caught myself looking away at the screen, looking at my friends to make sure that I wasn't the only one bored out of my mind. The 'ending' does a great job of disparaging whatever merit the past 3 hours had left. The film should have ended with Strider becoming King. That was main premise behind the story aside from Frodo destroying the ring. We DID NOT need to see Sam get married. We DID NOT need to see Frodo finishing his book. We DID NOT need to see Sam AGAIN with his new wife and kids. We DID NOT need to see everyone bidding farewell to Agent Smith (forgive me if I don't know his character's name), Gandalf and Frodo. We DID NOT need to see the four hobbits drinking at the local pub in The Shire. All of this was totally unnecessary and made the movie even more of a bore than it already was. The last 20 minutes were absolute TORTURE.
Certain aspects of the story just didn't fit well with me. I just didn't get how throughout the 3 films, Frodo was billed as the one with sense and a level head...hence the reason HE was given the ring in the first place. The climax with the ring in Mordor on the cliff was just frustrating to watch. He suddenly gets his 'second wind' after Sam saves him yet AGAIN and practically carries him up the volcano. He runs inside, knowing what he has to do, with the ring over the cliff all he has to do is drop it. Now all of a sudden he doesn't? When EVERYBODY and their grandmother has tried to take the ring from him and he's always exercised (for the most part) common sense and responsibility, NOW he hasn't the willpower to do what's right when all he has to do is let go of the ring? Why didn't Sam just do it for him? But no, we need one last dramatic battle with Gollum before we destroy it. Pathetic. Other parts of the movie were just plain CHEESY....the dialogue was enough to make me gag. Somehow Fellowship of the Ring, with the sentimental nature of these fantasy-type stories, seemed to keep its edge while keeping the story going and being entertaining throughout. But ROTK is all a bunch of eye-candy and grand events with no real substance. I didn't give a damn about 99% of the characters in ROTK...I only hoped that Strider and Legolas didn't die (well Strider couldn't die because he had to become King) because those were my two favorite characters. Frodo has to be the lamest, dumbest 'hero' ever...all his whining and yelling and crying got tired in Two Towers. I wanted all of the hobbits to die; what was really their purpose? It just made everything more silly. Of course we had to have the 2 true idiots of the 4 go into battle, slaying Orcs...yea right.

I could go on and on about how disappointed I was with ROTK, but I won't waste my time. But please, just stop with all this 'greatest movie ever' talk. There's opinion and then there's sheep. I doubt anyone will even be talking about these movies 20 years from now. It's a travesty for any of these films to be even mentioned with the great FILMS of the past. ROTK before Casablanca?????? The MADNESS!!! I understand the nature of the story is fantasy, which bears a certain level of cheesiness and sappiness. But please don't try to put LOTR on the level of the TRUE MASTERPIECES, especially if you haven't even seen them. The LOTR trilogy, with its talking trees, wizardry and scary-looking creatures, is just too silly to hold that type of rank, and it never will. It's the flavor of the month now, but it won't stand the test of time. With that said, this trilogy was a big letdown. In my opinion, Fellowship of the Ring is the best of the three, as it was the most cohesive and entertaining without all the slow spots. Two Towers and ROTK were big letdowns, each of them doing a good job of tainting what could have been a really great trilogy. Of course I'm in the minority here, but I'm one of the few that can see past the CGI and grand landscapes and see the silliness for what it is....SILLINESS. I rate ROTK on the same level as Two Towers, but it was even more boring than that, except for the much better battle scenes. A good movie and decent trilogy, but stop already with the overhype. I'd take the Matrix trilogy over this any day.
**1/2 out of **** stars