Stunning & Inspiring series, & What a Way to End!

Rating: 10/10 (16 June 2005)

I used to hate fantasy & sci-fi, especially Lord of the Rings. Of course, at that time I'd only seen the first film and barely payed attention to it, passing it off as rubbish.
However, I'm a huge film buff. So, my friends and I decided to start having Movie Nights every week. One of them brought 'The Two Towers' over & I figured, I'd give a shot to actually sit down and watch one of these films seriously. Well, after it was over, I was amazed. I couldn't believe that I had shrugged off such a fine piece of cinema for as long as I did! Then, I got to see Return of the King, excited to see another good movie come out. My jaw dropped when I first saw it. Never before had I seen such fine use of computer technology & live action together in a film. It was so believable, so REAL. The scene with the Paths of the Dead absolutely blew my mind. It's probably one of the most visually stunning scenes of the 21st Century. The costuming, the sets, the entire WORLD created in this film out of pure love & passion for a man's novel is just inspiring. Now, I've read the books and have to say that yes there are differences. However, the films capture the spirits of the characters and hearts of the stories immaculately. I do believe it would bring a tear to Mr. Tolkien's eye if he were alive to see it.
Ian McKellen as Gandalf is now one of my favorite performances of all time. Another stellar performance is by Bernard Hill as King Theoden. Most people in the film give their all & it shines; there is nothing lackluster here! My biggest props to the set/costume & technical designers. These people have officially raised the bar for the future of film-making.
Just a note to the doubters of the film: you will not be disappointed, but truly blown away. The Return of the King is the greatest of the the three, using cinematography & computer technology together like never before. However, this is done so seamlessly that you might miss it the first time around. A film worth watching a thousand times, I still get goosebumps during most scenes, & of course I recommend the Extended Edition just for the extended Paths of the Dead scene-- it's fantastic! 10 out of 10.