Absolutely incredible

Rating: 10/10 (17 December 2003)

I thought this is just an incredible movie. It's so amazing, and splendid, and emotional, and moving and just glorious. The reviewers who said it was operatic are correct. There is a visual grandeur and epic majesty to this movie that is stunning. The movie is perfectly balanced between these huge spectacular moments and the small intimate moments.
The acting is amazing in this movie. First of all, I was completely blown away by Elijah Wood. I thought he was very good in the first two movies, but any good actor could have done what he did. But he crossed over to greatness in this movie IMO. I'm still stunned by how perfect he was. Sean Astin was wonderful. Just fantastic. (And boy howdy does he know how to cry!) As good as they are separately, all the Frodo/Sam scenes together are so intense and so wonderful. Billy Boyd is amazing in this movie. He has lots of great scenes. Viggo is just as good as in the first two movies, as is Ian McKellen. Bernard Hill really comes into his own as an inspirational leader of men. Miranda Otto is just great. Dominic Monaghan doesn't have a lot of scenes, but makes the most of them. David Wenham had a scene that made me cry.
Some of my favorite moments from the book are gone, and I hope they're in the EE, but nonetheless I still was completely enthralled by the movie. I had tears running down my face at the end of it. (I actually had tears in my eyes four or five times in the movie.) I felt emotionally drained when it was over, and can't wait to see it again. (And there are NOT too many endings. For Pete's sake, this is the wrap up of a 10 hour epic with multiple characters and plots.)