In my opinion, the supreme adventure film of our generation.

Rating: 10/10 (24 February 2005)

I will probably never see a movie like The Return of the King again. The first two chapters set up all of the characters and all of the little story arcs, and Return of the King, as the movie that gets to wrap things up, has a natural advantage over it's predecessors. Most adventure movies use the first 80 minutes to set things up, and the final 40 to pay things off. That's exactly what exactly what this is whenever you look at The Lord of the Rings as a single movie: the four hour climax of one twelve hour adventure film. And as an individual entry into the series, from an emotional, scope, and action standpoint, it's in my opinion far and away the best of the trilogy.
We all know the story, but this time everybody is in the final round. Frodo and Sam still must enter Mordor to destroy the Ring, guided by the scheming creature Gollum, but this time there's no turning back. Gandalf still must do what he can to hold back the Dark Lord Sauron's forces, but his armies have grown to an overwhelming size. Aragorn still must return to the City of Minas Tirith to reclaim the King's thrown, but now time is pressing against him. So yes, it's more of the same from the first two films, but now on a grander and more climatic scale.
Elijah Wood does a fine job as a now exhausted and tormented Frodo. Sean Astin is allowed to emerge as the trilogy's true hero, repeatedly risking his own life to save Frodo's. Andy Serkis's performance as the CGI Gollum, is as impressive as anyone's in the trilogy. Interestingly, in The Two Towers much time and energy was spent winning us over to Gollum's side. Then, in the wonderful and creepy opening scene of this movie, all sympathy we had for the character is gone completely, and the rest of the film portrays him as a genuinely detestable villain. Ian McKellan, who spent most of The Two Towers off screen as Gandalf, is back in full force. And Viggo Mortenson, who dominated the previous film, has probably his smallest role in the movie in which he is the title character. Still, his performance is intense and focused. Mention must be made of some supporting characters. Merry (Dominic Mongahan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) become fully developed characters at last. Bernard Hill as Theoden hits all the right notes. Miranda Otto's Eowyn is a very easy protagonist to root for. The rest of the cast holds perform admirably. Terrific ensemble performances.
On a "Great scene per movie" basis, Return of the King is outstanding. Smeagol pre-CGI corruption. A chain of signal beacons setting vast mountaintops ablaze. A father coldly sending his son on a suicide mission. Dueling catapults between a city a third of a mile tall and an army of hundreds of thousands. The unbearable suspense as a large spider relentlessly stalks one of our heroes. The arrival of 6000 soldiers on horseback just as all seems lost. The climatic scene right at the very Crack of Doom with the fate of the world dangling over a fiery chasm. And a single ship sailing away into the setting sun. These are just the highlights of the highlights. It's unfair to expect every scene in a movie to be riveting, but this one is quite close.
Although the special effects serve the story, they are so strong and numerous that it is impossible not to mention them. The film's third quarter, a one hour siege of Minas Tirith by 300,000 of Sauron's minions, is masterful film-making. This due to the fact that although there plenty of eye candy here, the characters have been so strongly developed that we find ourselves worrying more about their lives than anything else. That's really all you can ask for.
Of course, The Return of the King has it's weakpoints. In a deviation from the book, Frodo loses faith in Sam and sends him away at one point. While a nice bit of drama, it creates a lot of big plot holes later on. A subplot featuring the mad stewart of Gondor, Denethor (John Noble) ultimately trying to burn himself and his son Faramir (David Wenham) alive doesn't quite work with the rest of the movie. And an invincible, undead army that appears without warning at a key point is what the phrase Deux Es Machina was invented for. In fact, it's probably the most flawed of the three movies, but what does work, works so well that it overshadows all the little problems. Speaking of which, I've heard all the arguments against the long ending, and I don't agree at all. We're ending an entire trilogy here, not a single movie. When you examine the ending, you'll find it wraps up more loose ends from Fellowship than from King. Director Peter Jackson deserved to cater exclusively to those who cherished the characters, just once.
Finally, Theatrical or Extended Edition? Already for me, the 250 minute extended version has become the only Return of the King. Although it only contains a few new scenes that, by themselves, stand out as truly great, there are huge numbers of moments that set up and strengthen bits that come later. Casual fans who want to experience the fastest 200 minutes you'll ever spend watching a movie should get the TE.
In conclusion, it would be plain arrogant of me to declare this the best movie ever made. I don't think it is. But while I was watching it, I was completely enraptured. I was absorbed in the story, the sights, the sounds. I rooted for the characters, winced every time Sauron scored any kind of victory, and cheered during every single triumphant moment. The Return of the King resounded and appealed to me on a more personal level than any movie I've ever seen. And I really can't argue with that.