No word for it but...Epic.

Rating: Null/10 (22 December 2004)

There are a few words that come to mind with this movie. Amazing, breath-taking, incredible, and supercalifrajilisticexpialidocious are some, but even those don't really get it across. If you have not seen this movie, please do yourself a favor and do so before you die.
I wish I had more space to go on and on about the colossal achievement this movie set forth. The CGI Gollum set a higher standard for computer engineering today along with the trolls and oliphaunts. The score...flies. Not another word for it. And I cannot even count how many times I cried. The most heart-wrenching line? "Don't go where I can't follow." I couldn't find a flaw in anything this movie won its half a million (exageration) Oscars for. When you see it, you can't wonder for even a second that it won so many.
Of course, being the mini-Simon Cowell I am, I do have a few points to pick. First off, I don't really find much to complain about the few things that were left out. The Scouring of the Shire, I knew right off wasn't going to be in the movie. I mean, people have just finished watching this huge epic war, and now it's finally over. A sensible director would not start an entire other battle right at the end...I know I wouldn't. The Houses of Healing was a little disappointing because you really wanted to see Eowyn with Faramir, just to finish off the entire picture, but I haven't seen the extended version yet, so I'm crossing my fingers. However, some of the things that were in the movie were a little iffy. Denethor's pyre was something I've been looking forward to ever since I read the books, it's always been my favorite part. I end up reading that chapter over and over. However, in the movie some of the things that really got at you in the book were left out. The part with his hands forever emblazoned on the palantir gave me shivers. And although watching a fiery body plunge off the wall is a very cool shot, it didn't do much for me. I missed the goosebumps the book had always given me, and I felt like that as something that could have used those few extra minutes of time on, if anything.
Also, the Pippin and the palantir scene was a bit strange. The entire motion blur would have been fine if it was another movie, but compared to the rest of LoTR, it just wasn't up to par. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw it, which I'm sure wasn't the point of the scene. However, put those two sort of bad things together (Pippin's and Denethor's scenes) and what do you get? Pippin's "All Shall Fade" scene, which takes the cake for tear-jerkers. So you see, even if there is that one little gripe (like there is in all films) the movie as a whole, as an emotion, makes up for everything.
In conclusion, even if you're a nit-picker like me, this film is one that will go down in movie history. You don't need to be a Tolkein fan or even have read the books to appreciate its majesty.