The chapter that sealed the trilogy's legendary status

Rating: 9/10 (28 April 2019)

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King truly captures the best of what this trilogy is famous for. Without such an epic conclusion to the series, I honestly believe that The Lord of the Rings may not have been considered a successful adaptation at all. This is a true epic in every sense of the word.
This is a film with heart, emotion and incredible visual appeal. It combines the epic battle sequences of The Two Towers with the human element and character arcs of The Fellowship of the Ring. Our love for the friendship of Elijah Wood's Frodo and Sean Astin's Sam comes to fruition in this instalment, as does the camaraderie between Viggo Mortensen's Aragorn, Orlando Bloom's Legolas and John Rhys-Davies' Gimli.
Not only that, but this is the film that truly cements The Lord of the Rings as one of the greatest accomplishments in cinema. This was the culmination of nine hours of the most epic and much-loved trilogy to date, and it lived up to the expectations in a big way.
There is not much more to say. The Return of the King takes what the previous two films did well and amplifies it several times over. It's bigger, it's more brutal, it's more emotional, it's more gripping and it's more inspiring. There's no question to me that if I only got to see one more film from this trilogy in my lifetime, it would be the third chapter without a second thought.
Praise goes to Peter Jackson, of course. The action epic is a style of film so rarely accomplished to such a degree as this. To captivate and thrill audiences over the course of three or more hours is a challenge, and Jackson achieved not just that, but made it one of the most widely beloved films in all of history.
The Return of the King is an absolute must-see, whether you're a fan of the Middle Earth folklore or not.