Great, but far from flawless, final installment

Rating: 9/10 (19 December 2003)

I watched this on the night of the 17th December, sitting in the middle of the front row of a THX-theater. My ears are still ringing.
Let me start by writing that this film contains some of the most exhilarating battle-sequenses of all time. *SPOILERS AHEAD* The Great:
1. Frodo, Sam and Gollum start to climb the stairs near Cirith Ungol, just as Saurons army starts marching out, and Frodo starts wandering towards the tower instead. I was cringing in my chair like I have never done before, I almost couldn´t watch. One of the most brilliantly unsettling scenes of all time.
2. Pippin using the Palantir. Done just right, with brilliant SFX.
3. The establishing shots of Minas Tiriths, going all the way up to the top with the White Tree. If you thought the zoom-out from the mountain (Caradhras) in the first film was breathtaking, that was just a little brother to this.
4. The attack on Minas Tirith. Brilliantly done. When they start catapulting giant rocks down on Saurons army, and when the Nazgul starts attacking, it is epic battle-scenes at its best.
5. The Rohirrims appearance and the subsequent Battle of Pelennor Fields. The appearance of the Rohirrim was simply magical. When Theoden started to rouse them to battle, I found myself writhing and making loud exclamations at a rate I have never done before in a theater. Luckily, there was noone sitting near me. Anyway, it was mostly drowned by the soundtrack. The following battle, and the coming of the Army of the Dead, was simply the best ever on film. No exceptions whatsoever!
5. Sam and Frodos encounter with Shelob, and their final journey to Mount Doom was one of the most intense action-sequenses ever filmed.
When they started their final descent to Mount Doom, my blood-pressure was probably 10 times the normal. I can´t even call it bristling with tension, it was far more than that. There were more great moments, but I can´t list them all here.
The flaws:
1. When the final retreat was called at Helms Deep in The Two Towers, it was immediately followed by a close shot of a thoroughly ghastly Orc thoroughly bashing a human soldier. An almost exact repeat of that is used when they decide to give up Osgiliath in this film. Maybe Jackson wanted to use it as some kind of trademark, but it was more tiring, because it was repetitive.

2. Same thing with the Nazgul, at Minas Tirith. Someone shouted `Nazgul`, and then we had the good old IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!- screams, and everyone cowering. Tiring.
3. No duel between Gandalf and The Witchking of Angmar. Early on, Gandalf spoke of the leader of the Ringwraiths as the most fearsome member of the enemy forces. But nothing was really made of that, the flying creatures the Ringwraiths rode were more fearsome and killed more humans. The Witchkings last stand was rather tame too he only said something like: - You shouldn´t stand between a Nazgul and his prey. And then he was killed.

4. The One Ring in Mount Doom. Like I said, the journey to Mount Doom, was really exciting, but once inside, they slowed it down too much. First of all, Frodo stands at the edge for so long that it becomes boring. I am not a Tolkien-purist, but I believe that they should have filmed at least this sequense exactly as in the book. Instead, when Gollum attacks the invisible Frodo, he bites his finger off and takes the Ring. Then, instead of dancing around in mirth and losing his foot-hold, HE SITS DOWN AND STARTS CARESSING IT! At last, Frodo approaches him and PUSHES HIM OFF THE EDGE! Sorry, this should have been done exactly as in the book, with Gollum screaming a final precious-s-s. Instead, we see him down there, and it takes some time for the Ring to be destroyed. It should have been more urgent, with Saurons fortress starting to crumble as soon as Gollum fell down, without help. In the book, it also underlined that the Ring always betrays its bearer in the end, as it happens to both Frodo and Gollum.
5. The ending. This was drawn out too much, which made me forget the impact of the earlier scenes. It made me want it all to be over, instead of enjoying it. I think they should have gone faster to Frodo sailing out on the Elven ship, and skipped Sam going home. Or they could have edited it more tightly, without skipping anything.
To end it, let me just say that the Army of the Dead was the most scary and impressive spectres ever to be put on film.