A timeless work of art

Rating: 10/10 (19 March 2004)

How can anyone in their right mind rate the Godfather movies higher than ROTK? I have seen both and there is no comparison. The Godfather movies are so dry and slow-paced that members of my family and I had a hard time keeping awake after the first few minutes. I watch a movie to be entertained more than any other reason, and the pointless themes of the lawless Godfather family were not entertaining, in fact they disgusted me. How can any movie that glorifies evil be so popular? I prefer stories with good versus evil with good winning despite great odds against it. This is exactly what "Lord of the Rings" is!
All three of the Lord of the Rings movies are the epitome of entertainment in my mind. It is true that I have read the trilogy 25 times and can claim to be a "LOTR Junkie", I never in my wildest dreams thought the visual and audio representation of this great literary work would come close to equaling the impact of reading the books. Consider what happened to one of the finest science fiction books of the last century when brought to cinema: "Battlefield Earth", how it was butchered into one of the worst movies ever made. Therefore it was with great anxiety I viewed the first movie of the trilogy, TFOTR.
From the first scenes of "Fellowship of the Ring" showing the war 3000 years before, I knew this was something never before accomplished. Each frame of video is a true work of art. The detail, scenery, costumes, makeup, sets, all are magnificent beyond belief and far surpassed any expectations or mental images I had. The performances were superb, and the mere fact that one actor did not stand out against some other so-so actors, is the reason why none were given an Academy Award.
I expected Peter Jackson to place all his energy and perfection into the first movie and like nearly all sequels, have a serious let down in quality. It did not happen. The Two Towers was even better. How beautiful and marvelously detailed the sets at Edoras! The battle scene at Helm's Deep went beyond anything in cinematic history in scale and scope, and still retained the artistic quality of beauty in each frame. Needless to say, I was blown away!
"Return of the King" is my favorite book of the series because of it's intensity and pure genius such as the tactical decision to attack the Black Gate, allowing Sauron to think Aragorn has the ring, giving Frodo and Sam a chance to reach Mount Doom. The movie did not fail, it triumphed far more than I could have ever believed. It is not only a feast for the eyes and ears, it will wrench every emotion from you no movie has before. From hate for Denethor as he condemns Farimir to certain death, to everlasting love which Arwen displays when she realizes that she and Aragorn will have a son and changes her mind about sailing to the West, every emotion I could imagine is brought to the surface and exploded a thousanfold in this movie. What shear bravery against overwhelming odds when the Rohirrim attack and how magnificently it is portrayed! How humble the hobbits are when all the great lords and ladies of Gondor bow to them! What great loyalty after suffering a nearly disastrous defeat, Theoden accepts the call from Gondor for aid! You can feel the vengeance in Eowyn while she confronts the Witch King seemingly alone and unafraid! The impact of hundreds of thousands of enemies at the gates of the city brought a feeling of such hopelessness! What an emotional roller coaster!
For me, emotions are enhanced with breathtaking beauty. Such is the beauty of every scene in ROTK. Where I live, we are proud of our gorgeous mountains, but the lighting of the fires to call Rohan was breathtaking in the extreme, such beauty I though was only in the Canadian Rockies. The incredible detail of the city of Minas Tirith astounded me. How could this have been filmed without a real full-size city? Details such as the statues of the ancient kings of old down to the embroidery on the uniforms of the soldiers of Gondor were not overlooked and were tastefull and eye-catching! Why did this movie not win the Oscar for cinematography when Fellowship did? Was the camera work any less than Fellowship? I think not, but even more deserving of the Oscar.
I could ramble on for hours of the beauty and majesty of ROTK but I am limited in time and space so I will not. Is it the finest movie ever made? Definitely!! Are there flaws in the movie? Yes, but if you try to find them, you are picky, picky, picky. Try applying the same standards to another movie such as "The Godfather" or "Titanic" and see what happens!
I did not think any movie could replace "Star Wars" as my personal favorite, but "Return of the King" has done it and set a new standard that will be tough to match.