Review of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) by Jon C — 22 Feb 2015

For 2003:

This is undeniably the best installment in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy trilogy directed and adapted by Peter Jackson.

It's my favorite of the 3 movies and I was in tears after it ended happy of the fact that Jackson made these movies work on his own terms but also respecting the source material right from the beginning and making all of the characters resonate with me.

He amazingly concludes this long-line of films with ultra panache, gripping drama, heightened emotion, outstanding visuals, powerful music, and proper closure of the final battle for Middle-Earth.

All of the characters' storylines are wrapped up: Frodo and Sam finally reach Mount Doom to destroy the Ring of Power once and for all whilst being lead by Gollum.

Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli ride to seek aid for the Battle of Gondor/Minas Tirith.

Arwen and Aragorn's love story may also face an inevitable end.

And the ultimate fight between good and evil takes shape.

Despite being a fantasy adventure 'Return of the King' it is the end of the long journey for all things; Jackson makes a subtle way to show war, the war to end all wars, hope, freedom, sacrifice, loss, suffering, and most of all, victory or oblivion.

This film trilogy is one of the best in movie history filmmaking and Jackson has left his stamp on it to forever withstand the test of time and hopefully inspire future filmmakers.

It truly deserves a spot next to 'Star Wars', 'The Dark Knight' trilogy, the 'Twilight Saga', 'Harry Potter', the 'Toy Story' series, 'Transformers' and the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' trilogy.

All 3 films are the definition of epic filmmaking and storytelling.

The book is the holy bible of geekdom and the movies will always be the fanboy's dream come true for escapist cinema.