A fantastic conclusion to a great trilogy

Rating: 10/10 (19 July 2009)

After a brief prologue showing us how Sméagol came to get the ring and how he came to be the pitiful creature we know the film proper starts where The Two Towers left off; Sméagol is continuing with his plan to lure Frodo and Sam to their doom in Shelob's lair and Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are reunited with Merry and Pippin at Isengard.
When Pippin looks into the palantír, a sort of dark crystal ball, he sees the city of Minas Tirith under attack, unfortunately he himself is seen by Sauron. Galdalf takes him to Minas Tirith when he rides there to warn of the impending attack while the others remain behind to raise an army large enough to assist in that coming battle.
I thought that the battle of Helm's Deep was impressive but it seems a mere skirmish compared to the battle of Minas Tirith, here there are thousands of Orcs supported by mercenaries mounted on gigantic elephant like creatures that are large enough to crush a man and his horse under their giant feet. All the time this battle rages Frodo and Sam are journeying deeper and deeper into the land of Mordor to Mount Doom in order to end Sauron's reign once and for all.
This is probably the best film of the trilogy, I can see why it raked in the awards, the only weakness was the epilogue once the quest was completed the film could have ended at the crowning of the king rather than going on to their return to the Shire... even though I'm aware that this was in the book. Peter Jackson did a fantastic job bringing such an epic story to the screen, he was of course assisted by a fantastic cast who really brought the characters to life.