RotK is by far, the best film of the three! review by 20 y/o geek. woo.

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2003)

Like many a Tolkien geek, before the premiere of this movie, I literally had nightmares that Return of the King would be an utter disappointment and grievance for me and all Tolkien fandom. At long last, after years of waiting, endlessly thinking about, insanely obsessing over, and anticipating it, that day finally arrived. As I went to the theater, feeling the day to be quite surreal as I struggled to fully grasp I was about to witness, I was fully equipped with my One Ring on finger, and as always, my Tolkien tattoo on my back, I sat down in my carefully selected seat. After some time the lights dimmed, but my nervousness increased dramatically. The trailers began. Minutes passed and so did they. Then, The New Line logo played upon the screen. A moment of imminent silence. Finally, my journal was taken up from where last it had halted. Nearly three and a half hours after I had initially stepped into that large, crimson colored room, filled with quasi-reclining cushioned seats, my journey, like Frodo's was over. And though my eyes could not have possibly cried more during the duration of that film, I had a feeling of complete gratitude for Jackson for the making of this final chapter.
Truly, it was by far the most riveting, and intensely powerful installment of the trilogy. For what The Fellowship of the Ring had spent on the characters, it lacked in action. (though personally, I'm not complaining in the least, for I'd take Tolkien's characters any day over a battle). And while The Two Towers makes up for the small amounts of physicality in it's former, it lacked in what the Fellowship was most strong.
However, Return of the King magnificently and flawlessly integrates both the characters and the battles into one perfectly bound and balanced masterpiece. The scene changes flow beautifully and naturally from character to character and the scenes themselves hardly ever feel rushed. And though in the first hour I began to become seriously concerned about the relatively brief Frodo/Sam/Gollum sequences, by the end, (excluding Eomer and perhaps Faramir) everyone had about the equal amount of screen time. I was throughly pleased and relieved, for the shortcomings and lack of those Ring Bearer scenes were the ones I most feared. And though Jackson has changed and/or added a few new things (as he has done in the others), one in particular over which I was quite upset where I saw no need for exclusion, for most of the parts, I can understand his reasoning, and actually in some cases I think it even improved the scene. But besides that, he has stayed very close to the books events. Hoorah! If you've enjoyed the previous two films, you will absolutely adore this final film, marking the closure to one of the greatest epic stories ever told. I was and still am moved by it more than words can describe. RotK begs for me to view it again sometime VERY soon.