You'll be surprised at how good it is the SECOND time around

Rating: 10/10 (20 December 2003)

I admit it: I'm a bit of a late-blooming Middle Earth geek. I never played D&D role-playing games as a kid, but in recent years have actually played them with a group of guys who grew up on that stuff. Regardless, I was NOT a Lord of the Rings fan whatsoever when the first movie came out. In fact, I knew very little about it, and indifferently agreed to go to see it two years ago.
I was completely blown away.
Since then, I've become a full-fledged LOTR fan, having devoured the books now twice. Last year, a group of us (yes, the same thirtysomething dorks that I play role-playing games with) went to see "The Two Towers" at 12:01 a.m. the day it opened. We did the same thing again this year with "Return of the King".
This is an utterly fantastic movie, and the phraseology understates just how tremendous it really is. This is the epitome of an epic film and is, in my opinion, the "biggest" movie (scope, grandeur, depth, overall size of presentation) ever made. It is a HUGE movie, without question the "biggest" of the series. You don't have hundreds of orcs at a time like in "Fellowship" or even ten thousand in battle like in "Two Towers" -- you have a HUNDRED THOUSAND. You don't just have a cave troll, you have twenty hammer-wielding trolls. You don't have three Oliphaunts like in "Two Towers", you have a dozen. Throw in swarms of fell beasts, Nazgul, the army of the dead and the kitchen sink while you're at it. This is an unbelievably impressive movie.
I saw it a second time with my 11-year old daughter (also a LOTR nut) and the emotions shifted. I was of course still impressed, but much of my feelings shifted to pride. I was proud of Aragorn for finally assuming the leadership mantel, proud of Gandalf for being the born leader he is, proud of Eowyn for standing up to the Witch King, proud of Merry for going to battle against all odds and *especially* proud of Sam's courage through adversity. His stand against the feral, horrific Shelob is a sight to behold (and the special effects, especially when she has him cornered and is coming at him from above and to the side, are jaw-dropping).
I'll be honest: I loved the original movie, as I felt it spun a tale of classic good versus evil, which clearly etched the undermanned, underdog human/elf/dwarf/hobbit fellowship against the legions of evil. It had "heart". The second movie was good, but lost some of the original's wondrousness along the way. The final chapter regains the franchise's "heart" with a classic tale, told in a soaring, rousing fashion. I'm not sure if I like "Fellowship" or "Return of the King" better, but I'm happy to say that it's a damn close call either way.
See the movie once more, at least. See if your amazement turns to another emotion or two along the way. I know mine did.