A milestone in movie making

Rating: 10/10 (28 June 2014)

Let me start by telling this, I think this movie is the best movie ever made. There are different reasons for that conclusion and part of it certainly is due to the buildup this movie had, with the first 2 other movies. I think this movie is much better than both of them though. It pretty much everything a movie needs to have IMO. It has good storytelling, great characters, outstanding visuals and good pacing (which is something I found the other 2 movies to be missing).
What can be said about the story obviously is, that it is giant. There are stories that take place on a smaller scale, where only small things are at risk and I am not saying, these stories are worse (in fact, if they're done right, they can be better), but I also like stories that tackle a giant, worldwide danger. This is what all of the LOTR movies do, they deal with something that threatens pretty much the entire world. The good storytelling in it is that we find different people in this situation and they all come together through some circumstances (which, of course, happens in the first movie, not this one). What we get in this movie, is those characters working together, to solve this one problem. They all do serve a purpose in solving the problem and the story does a good job to show, why they do. That is good storytelling, that is how you tell a giant story right. And also, the way it ended is great.
Then we have the characters. We have a lot of different characters in LOTR. We have people like Aragorn, who are in self doubt (although this isn't really present in the books. I think it's a great addition to the story), which they manage to lose in the end and which makes them get to the peak of their power. This is what we get to see in Return of the King. We finally see Aragorn, actively deciding that he will take his rightful throne and he does what he needs to do, to deserve it. On the other hand, we have characters that are like Legolas, the knight in shining armor kind. We do also have crazy people (Denethor), we have people like Sam, who are just very loyal. What I am getting to is that those characters all seem believable to me, which is what makes a good character. The best example would be Frodo, who also is in a constant struggle, because of the ring. His story is a great story about a guy that is not big enough for the task he's up against, which is a sad story. The good thing on that part is that everyone else got their happy end, but Frodo didn't, because Frodo basically failed. This characters are interesting.
So, let's talk about the visuals. My favorite scene of the trilogy (from the cinematic standpoint) is in this movie. It is, when the riders of Rohan attack the Ork army in front of Minas Tirith. It is just a very beautiful scene. From an artistic standpoint, it is brilliantly made. What gives this scene a lot of power, is the horn that announces it. When you hear that horn, you have a slight idea of what you're going to get. You get the fact that Rohan is arriving, but to see it play out on the screen, to see them ride down those hills, being bombarded by arrows and crushing through the pikes of the Orks, was the most beautiful thing, I have ever seen on a screen. If I have ever been close to an orgasm while watching a movie, it was during this scene, because this scene, is epic.
Now to the pacing. This movie does pacing in a better way than the other 2. What makes the difference is that noting in Return of the King seems irrelevant to the story. Yes, it is long. But the length this movie has is filled up with relevant stuff and everything seems very important, which is why it doesn't stretch as much as the other 2 movies do. It feels shorter, although it is massively longer. This is quite an impressive thing.
Now, those are my reason for liking this movie. I truly think that it probably isn't the best in any of the categories I mentioned, but I think it combines them in the best way. The complete package of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is bigger and better than that of any other movie, which makes it the best movie I have ever watched. If there was any way to give it more than 10/10, I would definitely do that, but I will have to stick to a 10/10.