The greatest achievement in the history of cinema.

Rating: 9/10 (17 December 2003)

I'm writing this the day after I went to the Lord of the Rings marathon. Preparing for this I was afraid that I might not make it through the nine hours of film. However, the brilliance of this epic kept me more than awake. It doesn't happen often that I find myself staring at the screen with my mouth wide open, unable and unwilling to blink, trying to cover every square inch of the image, this way hoping not to miss any genius filmmaking.
Because that is what this is. Sheer genius. When I say this I don't mean The Return of the King in particular, but all three parts, which are in fact one movie. When you think of the book by Tolkien, it's almost impossible to imagine that anyone would ever be able to turn this into a movie. But one studio had the guts to trust in Peter Jackson and this was rewarded with what will go down in history as the greatest achievement in cinema of all time.
I know this is a bold statement, but it simply is. Everything is soaked with quality, from the screenplay to the acting, from the absolutely fantastic art direction to the stunning special effects which blend in seamless with the ''live'' action. The great battles are completely overwhelming, especially the jaw-dropping olifaunt attack. All this makes The Return of the King a fantastically fitting crown, to the previous two parts.
Everything in this film works. The drama, the tension, the suspense and ofcourse the action. All this is a due to the craftsmanship of Peter Jackson as a director. The build up to every scene, if it's drama, packed with emotion, or action, packed with spectacle, is so subtle and effective, that almost every emotion is being addressed, which relates the audience to the characters in the film. This makes The Return of the King a fanatstically fitting crown, to the previous two parts.
And that is what makes the Lord of the Rings so powerful, and now I mean the book. Middle-earth is symbolic for our earth. I know I'm not bringing new things to light saying this, but it is where the affection with the story of so many people originates. The enduring battle between different people, good against evil, values like love, hate, vengeance, pride and trust all come to pass, leading to a self-reflective work of art.
Peter Jackson found a way of translating the epic novel to pictures. Beautifully shot pictures, which deserve to swoop the oscars and which will be remembered until the end of our era.