Best of three.

Rating: 10/10 (28 March 2005)

It's been two years since The Fellowship of the Ring first hit cinema screens, and one year since The Two Towers continued the journey of Frodo Baggins as he delivers the Ring of Power to its destruction at Mount Doom. And now, finally, after years of waiting and waiting, we finally have a conclusion. And what a conclusion! Frodo (Elijah Wood) and his stalwart companion Sam (Sean Astin) are still on the path to Mordor, accompanied by the slimy creature Gollum, who now plots to get the ring (his 'precious'back from Frodo. Meanwhile, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), must claim the throne of Gondor from its steward, Denethor (John Noble) in order to defeat Sauron's forces. The movie looks amazing. And I do mean amazing. The Battle of Helm's Deep in last year's instalment was one of the best battle sequences ever filmed; the siege of Minas Tirith in this film blows it out of the water. With thousands upon thousands of orcs pouring into the White City, defended only by a comparative handful of warriors, I gasped in wonder at the spectacle. Aragorn's undead army is also handled very well, and the scene in which they sweep through the battlefield is spectacular, not to mention just plain cool. The creepiest bit of the film is also special-effects based; Frodo's encounter with Shelob, a giant spider. I hate spiders, and Shelob is so well done, and the sequence so well-directed, that the bit where she stalks Frodo, silently, freaked me out beyond belief. One of the best character bits is the disintegration of Denethor. Having lost one son, Boromir, in the first part of the story, he almost loses his other, less favoured son, Faramir (David Wenham) here. When he believes Faramir is dead and places him on a funeral pyre while his city burns around him, is great storytelling and terrific acting on the part of John Noble, who does a great job of making us believe Denethor goes around with his knickers on his head most of the time. The Lord of the Rings is one movie, cut into three. But of the three, The Return of the King is the best. There is just so little to dislike about the movie I am almost tempted to give it a perfect score. However, there are, as always a few minor quibbles. The absence of Saruman is one, as the role he plays in the book is not insignificant. As is the loss of Wormtongue, his servant, who in the book kills the old wizard. In the movies, it seems, Wormtongue (Brad Dourif in the 2nd film) is confined to simply sitting there and cowering. Also, the ending of the film is too long, with several spots where the credits could be inserted before they finally are. But both these transgressions are acceptable – the first because, good as the Scouring of the Shire is, it didn't really serve a narrative purpose in Tolkein's original. And the second is allowable because, quite simply, Tolkien didn't know when to stop, and the movie honours that. Peter Jackson has made an epic that will stand the test of time. It will never be remade and is unlikely ever to be topped. A century from now, people will still be watching it, still marvelling at it and the world Jackson and Tolkein, two men set apart by time, created together. Good-o-meter rating: 9.5/10 Special Note: The extended DVD edition, while it still doesn't have the Scouring of the Shire, does have Saruman's death at the hands of Wormtongue. For the inclusion of this, plus more kick-arse scenes, is worthy enough for me to do what I never do. The extended version earns 10/10 on the good-o-meter. Don't tell anyone.