Cinematic Brilliance

Rating: 10/10 (21 December 2003)

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!
My friend asked me if I wanted to go, I said okay, but he didn't want to leave until 7:30. Of course I knew we would get bad seats, and we did. 3rd row from the very front, far, far left. My neck still hurts. I had nothing to eat or drink, people were talking throughout the opening scenes. Yet this did nothing to distract me or harm the movie in any way.
Let me start off by saying and you can quote me on this "Move over Star Wars, there's a new trilogy in cinema" This movie (movies) are amazing. Lord of the Rings is the best trilogy out there and will be for some time. The matrix's last installment full flat, I have not seen Godfather, Evil Dead is a cult classic trilogy and Star Wars just lost the top spot. I seriously believe Jackson will get Best Director and this movie "deserves" to have Best Picture, even though the Academy will fuck it's chances over and this will be one of the biggest snubs ever on the Oscars.
I'll begin with the CGI. If you thought the first two had great CGI, you haven't seen anything yet. Gollum, of course looks amazing and it is so believable that he is a character on the screen. "He is there, you believe it, he is not cgi" The way he talked to himself was better than the way it was presented in The Two Towers, the water reflection was so beautiful and imaginative. When he is atop of Frodo and bites his finger off, it was amazing; I was actually in awe, CGI on top of CGI. The battle, what an amazing battle, if you thought the battle at Helm's Deep was amazing, cool, the best, then you are in store for something spectacular. You will get your socks knocked off. The battle scene is the absolute best battle scene ever created. The bodies, the emotion, the action, the excitement, the chills, the suspense, the cheers, the tears. This battle had it all. The men who were cursed, beautiful, how they tore that motherfucker down. In Fellowship of the Ring, we see Legolas climb atop of a Cave Troll; yes it did look fake, cheesy. In Two Towers, we see him do some weird stunt to climb back onto his horse, it also looked weird and fake. In Return Of The King, he takes down the elephant and all the men on it. This wasn't fake, this wasn't weird or cheesy. It looked beautiful, it looked real, it was amazing. He did it with ease as well, and as he counted his victims, brings down the big boy, gimli (serving as comic relief only) still states that the one only counted as one.
The acting, was utterly "uber" great. Aragorn IS the king, he is the man, the legend, Mortesen is the one and only person who can play him, who can bring him to life, he is Aragorn. Everyone did their part, and boy did I ever hate the "filler king" He p*ssed me off so much, I actually liked it. Merry and Pippen, were extraordinary, this movie is where they shine. Sam, I think everyone knows what a great actor Astin is, and what a GREAT job he did with Sam, I honestly believe that he should be up for supporting actor. He almost made me cry, the emotion was utterly amazing. Hate, Anger, Love, Fear, Sadness. He brought all of these emotions into this character and he did it extremely well. Frodo...what can I say, you are a troubled young...err..old hobbit. You are tired, you cannot go on...you trust the untrustworthy, you are fearful of a giant Shelob. You have courage and find the strength to go on and destroy the ring, only to be consumed by it's evil power, and want the ring for yourself. Agent Smith/Lord Elrond...one word, GREAT. I believed Liv Tyler should of had at least 5 more minutes of screen time, but with the time she did have, she made me believe that she truly was in love with Aragon and willing to become mortal.
The direction, Peter Jackson is my new Favourite director. Yes, I have seen his previous films before he did Lord of the Rings, yes I loved them, but this "EPIC" trilogy, has made him the man. Only a true fan of Tolkien and Lord of the Rings, could of brought this masterpiece to film, creating another masterpiece. You honestly deserve to win best director, for conveying epic battle sequences, strong emotions, bringing something fake to life (Gollum). I don't know anyone else who could of done this, and if he is not behind the camera for The Hobbit, then it should not be made.
The characters, one of the things that I love about the books/movies are the characters. Their fears, their anger, their courage, their optismistic approach on life. Eowyn (sp) Not very convincing in Two Towers, but amazing in this installment, I could not believe it. She is a warrior. Everyone cheered when she took off her helmet and said "I am no man". Then stuck that sword right into the f***er. Merry and Pippen have love for each other and you can feel it, when they say goodbye to each other, you can feel their pain, there sadness. Gimli, was really funny as well as Gandalf, who is just as always, excellently portrayed by Ian Mckellen. Everyone cheered again when Gandalf took over command of Minus Tirith (sp).
The movie itself, was just brilliant. It deserves everything it gets, and should get more. I felt sad when Frodo was back at the Shire, in his little home all alone, a huge adventure had just happened, how can you go back to your normal life? You made courages friendships, with man, drawf and elf. Now you're back with hobbits, I saw their expressions in the pub, just before Sam got married (yeah all the girls cheered) I know how they feel, The adventure was EPIC, the adventure was Amazing, it's sad to watch the movies all in a row, I know I will cry when I do (not only because my ass will hurt from 9-13 hours either. My uncle asked me a year ago, what movie has changed my life, what movie made me look at movies in a different way. I didn't know the answer yet, he told me for him it was Star Wars, his whole generation loves Star Wars. Well, there is a new generation. Lord of the Rings has and will change the way we look at movies today. It has a new following (yeah, someone dressed up as a hobbit). I will have these films on DVD, Extended Edition. a friend today asked me four questions. Was it good? YES. Good enough for Best Picture? Yes. Good enough for Best Director? Yes. Where did you sit? In a bad spot.
10/10