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Summary: I never shed a tear in movies before this one
Review: I am now waiting to buy the extended DVD version; I can honestly say no movie has ever moved me like this one - the whole three but the last in particular. I was even emotionally struck, something hard for a movie to do to me. Peter Jackson, stay as you are, dont ever let the fame change you - you are a genious and it took a genious to organise 25,000 people to construct Lord of the Rings. Only a personality such as yours could have done that, congratulations and thank-you for the movie experience. If you ever make another one, and film in Sydney, put me down as an extra. That would be a fun thing and a priviledge to do and be a part of.
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Summary: Watch it before you rate it!
Review: To all the people that rate this movie and any other movie: Please watch the movie before you review it, and please rate the movie you saw, not another. This was a great movie, I SAW it. Some people are rating the cartoon LOTR. Others are rating what they THINK will happen. Make sure you seen the movie and know that your rating the movie you saw. (That shouldn't be to hard, but apparently it is)P.S. - Some of you need to learn how to spell
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Summary: Great movie, let me break it down for you
Review: OK my thoughts on this movie 1. Battle sceans were fantastic
2. Most of the acting was incredible
3. Cinenatoraphy was excellent
4. A good book was ruined Point 1-There comes a point in every movie going experience hwere you just have to bow down and thank god for computer generation. If you thought the battle for Helms deep was cool wait until toy see the Battle of Palenor Fields(for those you that haven't read the books that's the battle in which the King of Rohan dies) The army of the dead was a wonderful touch as well. They get the award for best single moment in the entire series when you see these guys just pulling an elephant to the ground all on their own. Overall the battle sceans are why you should see this movie if nothing else Point two-Most of the actors were great it was great to see Viggo Mortensen's character(Aragorn) getting off the fence and deciding to embrace his destiny Ian McKellen as always provides the central rallying point in his movie the Christ figure of this series he is able to rally the men of Gondor when all hope seems lost. For a second there I actually felt that I was on the front lines with the men, it is a rare movie that can do that for me. Orlando Bloom also kicks some major [rear]. The rational parts of my brain know that the fights have been chorigraphed heavily but whenever he fights it is like watching a ballet dancer. John Rhys-Davies also provides a heartfelt and lovable, yet hammy performance as Gimli the dwarf Most of the others proformed maviliously well however there are times when one must be realistic
Two things that ticked me off-The freaking melodrama and the fact that the hobbits(by which I mean Sam and Frodo) looked like they were going to cry half the time. 2 did not preform so well Liv Tyler's performance is probably the most hyped in recent memory. She is only in the movie for 20 flipping minutes I'm sorry I just don't get it. I don't get the hype or the love interest or the stupid elven ballads that seem to erupt from her mouth without warning. Elijah Wood in my humble opinion cannot act his way out of a wet paper bag. I want to love this character but how can I do it with an actor like Elijah Wood? If his acting does the job for you though please take no offense. I will say this for every single one of the actors-They make you believe in the character weather or not the acting is good or bad. I found myself rooting for Sean Austin especially Point three-Cinematography This will totally blow you away no it's and or buts about it. It is as impressive as the great job that was done on "Master and Commander" Point four I understand that a movie is a movie and a book is a book and I understand that there are time constants but to show the Hobbits going back to Hobbiton and having nothing change, no ravaging of the shire no final resolution of Saurman left a very big hole in the entire experience for me. Oh well that's what deleted sceans are for.
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Summary: Good Lord, what a movie!
Review: When doing a review I usually try to be as objective as possible, but after watching the "Return of the King" I am finding that to be a difficult task. I've never read the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy by Tolkien (luckily, I have friends who are Tolkien fans and have filled me in on the parts of the trilogy that aren't in the movies). As such, when I saw the "Fellowship of the Ring" two years ago I didn't really know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised, but not overwhelmed, by "Fellowship". However, what has truly impressed me about this trilogy is that it gets better each time you view it - I now enjoy "Fellowship" more than when I first saw it, and the same is true for "The Two Towers". To me that's the sign of a great movie - it gets better with each viewing instead of worse (compare this with "Titanic", which I thought looked great the first time, and now I have no desire to see it again). However, the "Return of the King" is in my opinion easily the best film of the trilogy, and it's also the best film that I've seen all year. Peter Jackson has managed the rare feat of showing epic battle scenes while still maintaining the focus on individual characters that you really do care about. Too often "epic" movies will focus too much on the action and too little on the characters doing the fighting, but not Jackson. I won't recount the plot here, as many others have already done so, but I would like to say that the "Last Charge of the Rohirrim" has to be the single most "jaw-dropping" battle scene that I've seen put on film, and I don't say that lightly. Also, Jackson did a marvelous job showing Samwise and Frodo's battle with the Shelob, a giant spider (this part of the movie plays like a good old-fashioned horror film). This film literally has everything a moviegoer could possibly want - emotion, drama, comedy, romance, loads of action, chills and thrills, friendship and loss, bravery and evil, sweeping vistas and a superb musical score - the list just goes on and on. To sum up: if the "Return of the King" doesn't impress you, then you've probably got ice for blood and need a heart transplant. And, if Jackson doesn't (finally) win the Oscar for Best Director this time, then there's something rotten in Hollywood.
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Summary: Hail "The Return of the King"
Review: Though most of what I say in this review will mostly be redundant of what others have said about the final chapter in the screen adaption of "Lord of the Rings, "The Return of the King" vanquishes all doubts of the trilogy bug from biting Peter Jackson in the butt. The trilogy is now a model for franchise filmmaking excellence, with each successive chapter as good, if not better than the last. In "King," Andrew Lesnies' cinematography still looks breathtaking, Howard Shores' score still full blooded and inspired and the film is masterfully written, edited and directed by Peter Jackson, who should reign supreme at this year's Oscars. "The Return of the King" is this years' best film, with an epic and passionate scope (the film is about 200 minutes). However, "King" is the chapter with the most depth, the kind that reveals itself over time, punctuated by an acute and uncanny sense of character, plot and allegory that would make Tolkiein proud, despite some depressing omissions from the story, notably Saruman (Christopher Lee). But what Jackson and his team do wrong, they do ten times that right. The film picks up after the downfall of Saruman and his devastated armies after Helms' Deep. The surviving members of the Fellowship (minus Frodo and Sam) travel to the man Kingdom of Gondor, where they learn that Sauron will make his first strike. Gondor, once proud, is withering under the failing courage (and sanity) of Denethor (John Noble), the father of the deceased Boromir. The insuing battle that occurs is utterly spectaular, with boulder throwing catapults, charging Mumakil and sieging Trolls and Orcs. It comes to a head when Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and his faithful companions arrive with the powerful Army of the Dead at their disposal. Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) are still trying to penetrate Mordor with the deceitful aid of Gollum (Andy Serkis). Gollum shows his true ambitions, leading the Hobbits to the dark mountain lair of Shelob, a gigantic spider whom Sam must fight off by himself. Sean Astin shines in the film, the embodiment of fierce loyalty and determination. Elijah Wood plays Frodo as a deteriorating soul, staggering towards a tragic destiny, and he does it with surprising grace and feeling. Andy Serkis makes Gollum a full-blooded and, dare I say it, human character, one of the most fully realized of the three films. It's hard to find films the caliber of "Lord of the Rings," ambitious movies that hit grand slams every time they got the chance, and given Peter Jackson all the credit in the world for being the able manager. These are the films he seemed tailored for, grandiose in every sense of the word but with some of the best characters put to the screen in a long time. Credit the cast for that feat. In fact, just shower Jackson and his crew with all the accolades, awards and praise you can drum up. They will all deserve every word.
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Summary: A Breathtaking Grand Finale From Peter Jackson
Review: 2003 marks the grand finale of an epic film series based upon J.R.R. Tolkien's (1892-1973) literary masterpiece, "The Lord of the Rings", which was published between 1954 and 1955. The film company New Line Cinema gambled a $300-million budget to produce all three epic parts of the "Lord of the Rings" simultaneously under the direction of Peter Jackson, who was relatively unknown prior to the release of the first film, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring", in 2001. The enormous success of the first film was equaled one year later with the release of the second film, "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers". Now, the final film in the trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King", demonstrates that Peter Jackson and other men and women who tirelessly worked on the films saved the best for last. With very few doubts, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King", is very likely the best film of 2003 and probably one of the best films of all time. At 3 hours and 21 minutes, it is also the longest of the three theatrically released versions. The film begins where the previous film left off: Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and Samwise 'Sam' Gamgee (Sean Austin) struggle to make their way to the land of Mordor and Mount Doom under the untrustworthy guidance of the creature Gollum/Sméagol (Andy Serkis). The people of Rohan have returned to their homes following the defeat of Saruman's forces at Helm's Deep. However, the forces of Mordor will soon be unleashed against the Kingdom of Gondor at its capital, Minas Tirith, as seen by Peregrin 'Pippin' Took (Billy Boyd) when he gazes into the captured seeing stone from Isengard. Gandalf the White (Ian McKellen) takes Pippin with him to warn Gondor, which is under the stewardship rule of Denethor (John Noble), of the impending attack. Denethor is the father of Faramir (David Wenham) and the deceased Boromir (Sean Bean). Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas Greenleaf (Orlando Bloom), Gimli son of Gloin (John Rhys-Davies) and Meriadoc 'Merry' Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan) ride to Rohan to ask King Theoden (Bernard Hill) and his daughter Eowyn (Miranda Otto) to help Gondor defend itself against the dark forces of Mordor. There are too many memorable scenes in the film to mention, but some include Gandalf & Pippin's arrival at Minas Tirith, Faramir & the soldiers of Gondor fighting the Orks, Pippin singing, Pippin climbing the tower, Denethor's fire, Frodo and the dead city, the Orc attack upon Minas Tirith, Sam & Gollum fighting, Frodo in the cave, the arrival of Rohan soldiers, the elephants, the ghosts, the defeat of the dark king, the Black Gate, Mount Doom, Sauron's tower, and the closing scenes. The epic battle scenes at Minas Tirith are especially good and realistic, making you feel as if they have actually occurred; and the scenes at Mount Doom are some of the most emotionally gripping in the film. The superb acting in "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (especially of Ian McKellan, Elijah Wood, Sean Austin, Viggo Mortensen, John Noble and Billy Boyd), the very realistic special effects and incredible cinematography draws the audience into the film and keeps it engaged throughout its 3 hours and 21 minutes. It is very likely that the film will receive several Oscar nominations from the Academy Awards in 2004. (I will be very surprised if the film is not nominated for Best Picture and Peter Jackson is not nominated for Best Director.) I believe that J.R.R. Tolkien would have been absolutely thrilled to see his literary work transformed into the breathtaking, realistic epic film series that will no doubt entertain and amaze viewers for many years to come. I will, without doubt, obtain a copy of the film on DVD, especially the extended version of the film, which will no doubt be even more engaging just like the previous two films as extended versions. Overall, I rate "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" with a resounding 5 out of 5 stars and highly recommend the film to everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: So Close to 5 stars, but...
Review: Excellent, Wonderful film. Loved 90% of it. I wanted to give this 5 stars, but alas, I cannot. The decision to exclude Christopher Lee is intolerable. I do not care what the running time was, to leave him out of the theatrical version of this is terrible. No need for 15 minutes of Liv Tyler looking pale and sad. Also, the movie takes 45 minutes to wrap up. No need for this. Leave all the Happy, Fuzzy stuff for the Extended DVD. Great Film, awful Editing. Arrghh.
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Summary: BEST TRILOGY SINCE STAR WARS
Review: Taken as whole, this is an amzing spectacle. Much of what is here had me saying i was watching the new GREATEST SERIES EVER, and certainly the best since star wars. This movies proves you can make a great movie and have no nudity, swearing or grotesque blood-spurting. The only scene that made my 9 year turn his head was when gollum bit into the fish. The first of the series LOTR's was a slightly better than average movie, but an excellent adaption of the books. This trilogy actually gets better as it goes along. Once I had both enjoyed and suffered through LOTR I, I was able to savor most of TWIN TOWERS, but there were parts that just made me want to take a nap. I am not a fan of extremely long camera shots of facial expressions, especially given the limited range of expressions emotted by some of the hobbits in particular. Liv tyler also only had one facial expression, her poker face. I give LOTRF 4 stars and RETURN OF THE KING 5 stars. The special effects and the masterful battle sceens are an absolute WOW!
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Summary: At the End of All Things
Review: To start off, I would say that movies are beginning to be so, ah, "epic" that I actually need to go see them more than once to let them fall in place in my mind. For Return of the King (ROTK), we saw it 2 nights in a row, and this definitely helped. The first night I was so awed by seeing the book played out in front of my eyes and I was so overwhelmed by some things at the end, that I forgot a good portion of the movie. The next night I was able to appreciate the finer details, the acting, the flow, the genius behind these films. But what do I actually feel about it? Well, I was wondering if anyone anywhere would be brave enough to give this a negative review. I haven't read a negative editorial review yet, which is pretty phenomenal. I, myself, will not venture into the lands of criticism with this film either. There is too much love, passion, care, wit, ability, etc. that has been poured into this film - into these 3 films - to ever think about criticizing the makers. That said, I was sad to see that there were some things that were cut down or missing. For instance, Merry's role was much smaller. You don't know whether Eowyn is ever discovered injured until much later. Faramir's character makes a similar disappearance act. Aragorn's coming into his own as king wasn't as dramatic as I hoped. And, also, they cut out some meaningful moments that I missed - such as Sam's suddenly gaining perspective on the situation when he sees a star in a hole in the clouds. That noted, I found the development of Sam's character & the burden of Frodo's character to be perfect - even if they added some scenes to get it across. I found Gondor to be breath-taking. Gandalf & Pippen had great interaction as they showed the preparation of Gondor for battle. The fighters of Rohan were all as noble as you expected them to be. Overall, the New Zealanders kicked butt as they wrapped up this tremendous series. And, in an industry that is supposed to be so political, gutless, and pandering as the film industry is supposed to be, I was so glad to see that Jackson & his crew made it simply by showing the genius & the love that they have. I hope they received the recognition they deserve.
Rating:
Summary: the saga ends....with the best film of 2003
Review: A film by Peter Jackson It is finally here: the concluding chapter to the Lord of the Rings. Before the first movie was released, I was highly skeptical that a live action adaptation of the book would work. The animated version certainly wasn't any good. Happily, "The Fellowship of the Ring" turned out not only to be a good movie, it was one of the best movies of that year (not bad for a fantasy) and arguably the best fantasy movie ever made. A standard was raised that if the next two movies could meet it, we would have (perhaps) the greatest movie trilogy ever made. I don't say that lightly. With "The Return of the King", the saga has finally come to a close and once again, we are given one of the best movies of the year. Since "The Return of the King" is really a continuation of one story (that being "The Lord of the Rings), we pick up where "The Two Towers" ended. Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) are still heading towards Mordor, and since they don't know the way, they are being led by Gollum (Andy Serkis). At the end of "The Two Towers", Gollum spoke about how he was going to lead Frodo to "her" so that he will be able to get the Ring back. If you have not read the books, you won't know who "she" is, but if you have, there is not let down in the realization of Shelob. While Frodo and Sam are venturing towards Mordor, the rest of the Fellowship are having their own adventures in Middle Earth in the fight against the forces of Sauron. When we left off in "The Two Towers" Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) were part of the battle with the Ents against the forces of Isengaard. Gandalf (Ian McKellan), Aragorn (Viggo Mortenson), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) arrive at Isengaard after the battle of Helm's Deep, and are finally reunited with Pippin and Merry (rescuing the two hobbits was the inspiration for the action of "The Two Towers". Not long after, the Fellowship is separated with Gandalf and Pippin riding to Minas Tirath, and the others taking a longer way gathering up warriors to fight in the coming battle. Aragorn (and the rest of the Fellowship) know that what they do is only a diversion, trying to slow down the forces of Sauron and buy Frodo a little bit more time to destroy the Ring. This is the conclusion to an epic story, and if I took the time to write about all that worked in this three and a half hour film, I would easily end up with a review that is several pages long. Suffice it to say that for a movie this long, the time passed very quickly and there were still aspects of the movie that I would have loved to have seen fleshed out a little bit more, mostly scenes with Aragorn. The one scene that I truly wish would have made it into the theatrical release, however, is that of the end of Saruman. There is a little bit of an explanation in the film, but because of his importance in the first two films, his storyline seemed to be dropped a little bit hastily. Other than the absence of Saruman, I have no complaints with this movie. I have heard people mention the fact that the movie has something like 5 different endings, but it felt appropriate to me. This is a story that lingers after the final scene fades and when the last page has been turned, and if Peter Jackson lingers a bit in the ending, he is only bringing closure to the story (this same closure was provided in Tolkien's appendices). This tale has been a long time in the telling, and as a fan of the novels, I was so pleased to see just how fine a job Peter Jackson did with "Lord of the Rings". It is a masterwork and an ambitious project that, had it failed, could have destroyed New Line Cinema. Instead, Peter Jackson is deservedly being awarded for his achievement. At this point, the only thing I am still anticipating is the Extended Edition DVD, and perhaps a theatrical release of "The Hobbit". Right now, this is the best movie of 2003.
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