An Opus

Rating: 10/10 (2 January 2011)

Whilst some may argue it is over-long, "The Return Of The King" is simply too powerful, with too many wonderful elements, and is ultimately too great an achievement to not be in my list of favourite films of all time! Peter Jackson's adaption of this story, whilst having the occasional stumble along the way, was ultimately stunning. This film ties up the themes of the previous two instalments, of which there are many, in an emotional tour de force, on a rather grand scale. When you have performances from a top-notch cast, in a film about ideas as fundamentally moving as this, you are hardly going to go wrong, and at the centre of it all is the friendship between Frodo and Sam, so brilliantly played by Elijah Wood and Sean Austin.
Friendship, loyalty, sacrifice, love, and the struggles we all face can be found committed to film in the intense few hours of "The Return Of The King". The reason Lord Of The Rings worked so well is that it did not become a stage for special effects (which are wonderful, as shown in scenes of battling with a giant spider); the story is always first! What is impressive is how, for an original story with such scope of themes and ideas to be explored, not much is really missed in the film, and it is so expertly adapted, one cannot fail to overlook any of the flaws purists might make a point of, and be simply overwhelmed by its power