A crowning end for a great trilogy

Rating: 9/10 (16 December 2003)

It is true that this movie delivers. However - I liked part one and two better. But mind you, 'Return of the King' is still better than any not-Lord-of-the-Rings-movie I've ever seen.
First there is the problem of the sadness. When you're watching this movie, there's this little voice in your head going 'this is the last one. Next Christmas there won't be a part four you can look forward to. This will be it. That's it.' But I'm sure if I watch RotK a few dozen times more, this little voice in my head will fade away. And then there's always the rumors about 'The Hobbit'.
But secondly, and that's more important: most of the characters come to a standstill. There's not much evolving there. Only Aragorn has to grow to become a leader of men, and good ol' trustworthy Sam will rise to become the real hero of the War of the Ring. But most of the other characters in RotK just have to buy time for Frodo and Sam, so they will have a chance to complete their mission. But then again: so it was written, and so it was done.
Furthermore I thought I was always aware of some missing scenes here and there. So I can't wait to lay my fingers on the Special Edition-DVD. Only then will I be able to appreciate the full glory of RotK. After my experience with 'The Fellowship of the Ring' and 'The Two Towers' I know that the Special Editions are far superior to the cinematic versions (which seems almost impossible anyway, doesn't it).
But don't listen to my babbling - go see the movie! It is good fun to watch and will blow you away. I'm an arachnophobe, naturally Shelob scared me out of my socks! There are some wonderful Gollum-scenes (thanks, Andy), the ending in Mount Doom is breathtaking, the battles are boombastic, the art department and especially the conceptual artists have outdone themselves, and everything is created and executed with so much love and care for detail.
Peter Jackson has rightfully earned his seat in the eternal Olymp of the greatest film directors of all time. Thanks, Peter!