Glorious.

Rating: 9/10 (29 December 2003)

Glorious. Simply glorious. There are no words which can describe the extent to which this film is awesome. As a true fan and die-hard follower of the books, I was astounded by the perfection of the first, impressed by (though slightly
disappointed in) the second, and blown away by the third. The highest
compliment I can give this movie is that it does for The Return of the King what the first movie did for the Fellowship of the Ring. I think, were he alive, Tolkein would be proud of the epic wonder instilled in this movie.
I don't have time or space to describe all the ways in which this film is wonderful, but I will name a few. First of all, the feeling of urgency in the whole thing kept me on the edge of my seat. There is the sense that the war could be lost at any moment. All during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields there is a weight of utter despair, the feeling that against such might there can be no victory. In contrast, the total and complete wonder of the battle is incredible. I spent my childhood fondly imagining gigantic medieval wars, and now that there is the technology to create them on the screen, I am in heaven. When the Rohirrim charge the
hordes of orcs, I literally teared up, and I never, ever cry during a movie. It was just so incomprehesibly awesome that I couldn't do anything else. Finally, my very favorite thing that Jackson has done with this story is the ending. Perfectly true to the mood of the book, there is a wistful sadness to it that again made me tear up. SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER And the last shot, a view of a hobbit
door closing as Sam goes inside his house, visually represents the real
meaning of the book and of the story: that despite the size and all- encompassing importance of the war and of the quest, all of it really boils down to saving something that simple.