Quick Reviews!!

Rating: 10/10 (14 April 2005)

The groundbreaking trilogy comes to a deservedly spectacular and breathtaking end as each character fulfils their individual destinies. The film starts with a flashback of Gollum's life- we see how he first came across the One Ring, murdering his friend, instantly captivated by its power. Eventually he becomes more deformed and monstrous, like Emperor Palpatine as the evil takes control of his being. Eventually he loses it, and immediately begins his search to reclaim his precious. Then we are pulled back into the present. Frodo, Sam and Gollum continue on their way to Mordor with Sam growing more and more suspicious of the creature, and Frodo becoming increasingly weary of his task. Gollum is of course leading them towards Shelob, a giant spider so that they will be killed and he can take the Ring. Meanwhile, Saruman has been defeated, and Gandalf meets up once again with Merry and Pip after their successful battles. However, those were tiny compared to what must come. Sauran's massive armies are heading for Gondor to destroy mankind, and Gandalf must try to convince Denethor to fight. He however is stubborn and mourns Boromir, turning his love away from Faramir. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli make their way with all of Rohan to try to support Gondor, recruiting all the warriors they can. Theoden will not help until Denethor calls him. The 3 friends travel into the darkness to summon an army of the dead who will only follow the rightful King of Gondor- Aragorn. The war begins, and hopefully the 2 hobbits can make to Mount Doom, avoiding Gollum's treachery and Sauron's minions, and destroy the Ring. But Frodo is losing his grasp on reality and Shelob is waiting.
The battle scenes here are the most epic, best filmed, and exciting ever created, the effects remain stunning, and everything is as beautiful or horrible as always, depending on the place. The performances again are flawless, from the old and new characters, and the dialogue is full of quotable and inspiring lines. We now feel part of the actions of all the characters, exhausted by the travelling and feel a sense of fulfilment when Frodo reaches Doom. Everything finishes the way it should, and although there are some differences from the books, they do not matter. The final scenes in Gondor, of the King and everyone else bowing to the hobbits is heart-wrenching but not sentimental, and one of the best scenes in the trilogy. There is sadness, humour, fear and of course action, and it is all directed with a love and attention which is rarely seen. Every single person who worked on the films should be commended. It deservedly sweeped the Oscars like the other two should have done, and it is unlikely we will see a better series of epics again, until someone decides to do The Illiad, Aeneid and Odyssey properly. Perhaps those would be too great a task. We are left with the best films of our time and could not ask for anything more. Maybe a few zombies.
10 out of 10