Review of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) by Shanes. — 26 Feb 2006

It astonishes me how many believed the ending to be far too long. But I feel it was a necessary choice to lengthen it as they did. This film attempted to its best to tie all the loose ends, and to conclude an epic adventure that spanned a total of ten hours of film.

In order to do the master works of fiction any justice, every character must say their good byes, every action must be taken to blow the audience away. I found, then, that I wasn't only plastered to my seat, my eyes welling to the brim with tears, but that I wanted to remain with each character long after the story had ended.

And for producing that profound want alone, the film deserves the rating I gave it, as well as for it being quite simply one of the great master works of cinema. These are the essential images magic is made of.