A satisfying and compelling end to the journey

Rating: 8/10 (28 December 2003)

If I wasn't a Lord of the Rings convert before this film, The Return of the King surely cemented my belief that if a film is good enough, even my stubborn preferences and opinions can be swayed. Hell, it didn't just prove this fact, The Return of the King was so good that this statement can practically be etched into stone tablets and not be displayed in front of government buildings.
I had the distinct pleasure of seeing the extended versions of the first two installments in the theater in the ten days leading up to the day The Return of the King was released, a first for me, as I had not yet seen either of them on the big screen. Not only did I see these films in the theater, but I saw them with real fans of the films, which made the experience a lot more fun and interesting for me, and was just one of the many factors that made me truly excited to see the final installment the morning it was released. Only a fantastic film could create this kind of excitement in me Â– not only did the film have two strikes against it for the hype and for being a fantasy film, but was additionally handicapped by my stubborn inability to remember the character names and back stories. Yet I still walked out of the film in a daze because I was so in awe of its superior quality.
Peter Jackson, who I have admired on a small level since seeing `Heavenly Creatures', continues to amaze me. Where did this guy come from? To go from making small, interesting and fairly weird films to directing the biggest blockbuster trilogy since `Star Wars' and doing it THIS WELL simply amazes me. I say this with the greatest reverence and admiration as the most cynical and probably pickiest `film person' I personally know. Another factor that stuck out for me was the acting. Look at most big budget blockbuster action films and pay attention to the acting. If you respond with `What acting?' that is pretty much the best way to describe most action films. For example, when I went back and saw the re-release of the Star Wars Trilogy in the theater, I was dismayed and amused at the same time by the terrible acting. The Lord of the Rings trilogy does not suffer from poor acting; rather it is enhanced by the good acting of its principals. I think the enormous number of characters and therefore lower amount of screen time than other nominees may prevent an Oscar win for acting, but if The Return of the King or Peter Jackson is shut out for this film I will be very surprised. I rarely support the huge films for Oscar wins, but I have a feeling that 2004 will be a well-deserved exception.
The Return of the King is definitely in my top ten favorite films of 2003 and is only second to `Kill Bill Vol. 1' as my favorite action film of the year, words that I never thought I would be saying and words that could only be said because Peter Jackson has provided such an exquisite and superb film.
--Shelly