The Best of the Trilogy

Rating: 10/10 (23 December 2003)

Lord of the Rings : The Return of the King is grand achievement. On its own, it is spectacular swashbuckling fantasy film, scary, intense and infinitely enjoyable. But as the final and best chapter of the Trilogy, it ranks as one of the best and most important films ever made.
Picking up exactly at the end of The Two Towers, ROTK follows two stories. Frodo, Sam and Gollum continue on their journey towards Mordor to destroy the One Ring in its fire. We know from the end of the Two Towers that Gollum has plans to kill his two hobbit companions, and vows to let "her" do it. This leads us to an ingenious scene where Gollum talks to his evil alter-ego, this time by conversing with his reflection in a pool of water. It mimics the similar scene in The Two Towers, but tops if for originality and treachery. At the same time, the rest of the Fellowship re-group after the fall of Isengard, and start to amass troops to defend Minas Tirith from the inevitable attack of the Orc army.
The sheer relentless action in this film is beyond description. The battle at Minas Tirith probably lasts an hour and will have you pinned to your seat. There is a sequence when Legolas takes on a giant Mumakil and a dozen or so soldiers riding it. It is one of the great moments of the trilogy, and is perfectly believable - not for a moment do you think that you are viewing a sequence entirely made of special effects.
The sequences through the caves with Gollum, growing ever more evil in his pursuit to regain his precious, and the fights with Shelob the giant spider, are nearly too intense to watch. When you pause to think how silly the concept is - a three-foot hobbit battling a massive salivating spider - the success with which this scene comes off is all the more amazing.
ROTK completes many of the characters, most notably Gandalf, who proves himself not only wise, but a great general and warrior.
As the credits rolled, my first thought was that if a trite piece of fluff like Gladiator can win best picture, ROTK should be a shoe in.

Two Towers was better than Fellowship, and ROTK towers over The Two Towers. The Trilogy combined will take a place in my all time top 10 - I just haven't decided yet which film they will supplant. I cannot think of an American trilogy that is superior, where each chapter improves on the previous and where three are a coherent story. This represents the greatest work of sustained film making in decades and will go down in history as of the cinemas crowing achievements. Kudos to Mr. Jackson, and also to New Line Cinema who put their very existence on the line by greenlighting this project.
**** out of ****.