Thanks for the "spoilers" warning. I will read this post after I see the movie. :P

Return of the king is a breathtaking experiance, like all the other movies which fell over where it succeeded. This movie will have an impact eerytime you see it, not like some other movies. I ahve seen this movie 5 times, i think it is the best of the three only because i have never read the books but this one had more action, more emotion...well more everything. Forever this will be one of the greatest acheivements in cinematic history!

Amen, This movie was the best movie I have ever seen and when i think of each movie in the trilogy, each one is awesome. Return of the king was the best out of the three, I tell you i don't know how peter jackson or Elijah wood or any of the other actors can top what they just did. If I was any of the above I would think about retiring.

Trolls are scary!

I totally agree the greatest movie of them all

The Lord of the rings trilogy have captured millions of hearts around the world_Fact.
The Lord of the rings have produced three praised critical acclaimed films_Fact.
The lord of the rings have recieved box-office fame and record-braking opening weekends_Fact.
The lord of the rings are the best epics ever made in my opinion_Fact.
The lord of the rings have raised the bar of fantasy films_Fact.
The lord of the rings failed in every aspect_False.

The Lord of the rings trilogy are entertainment to the altimate limit. They catch your imagination with characters, action, special effects and story. They have shown to be truthful to the books that bred them_Fact.

Fellowship of the ring- was a great starting point, it introduced you to the characters with ease and the plot just flew into you with so much ease that it puts the matrix reloaded to shame. The action and special effects were tremendous. Some great scenes!

The Two Towers- recieved as much critical praising as the first and opened up with more of a bang! The special effects and the action were improved, from Gollum to the amazing helms deep battle.

Return of the king- Opened at the box-office better then the last two and showed us that a good thrid sequels are possible. It boasted the best battle scenes and special effects ever put onto film. Also the emotions were pushed to the limit, and that the wickidest of hearts could not shred a tear.

Overall this is my favourite trilogy out of star wars, godfather etc and better then i ever expected. The third one was as good as a climax can get and erased the awful memory of the matrix revolutions. Maybe if that was a book and was given more time, that could have been as good, who knows?? Then again, at this time, what can be better then the lord of the rings trilogy?? Left to much of an impact??? Really hard to think??....just don't bother, it's impossible to find a trilogy as good as this!!

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a moving and breath-taking film. You can't help but be sucked into the world of Tolkien. You feel the hope, the despair, the joy, the pain, true bravery, and the list goes on. The film has actually taught me that it's ok to let go, and that death is a part of life, and that for all that is good comes a price, but there will be good in the end. Unarguably, LOTR: ROTK is the best movie i have ever seen in every way.

Best movie of all time! I could have stayed in that theatre another hour or two!

Return of the king....undoubtedly....has put to rest any debate as to whether or not 'The Phantom Menace' fucking sucked.

Without even comparing it to other movies I'd put it in my all time top 5.,....and I'm picky! :)

** Spoiler **

Well I can tell most of you are totally for this movie but i didn't walk out of it as completely satisfied as you all. A few things that did bug me was the story of the Steward and Feirmir which really went unexplained and its hard for someone who has not read the books to understand why this guy is behaving the way he is, Secondly I think towards the end, the whole climb up the mountain to throw the ring was a tad bit over drawn and could have been shortened. I did enjoy very much the expression that Golum has as he falls with the ring into the volcano. He doesn't care just that he has the ring heh..

Regardless of these minor things the movies as a whole were definitely world class and this movie had a much more satisfying end then the Matrix which, in my opinion, had the setup to be the greatest movie trilogy of all time but blew it big time. I also feel that the actors they chose for the roles were simply perfect especially Aragon.

Now is this the greatest movie of all time, I dont' think so, For me the Back to the Future triology or original star wars is still at the top simply because of what those movies accomplished at the time they were made. Regardless of that The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is definitely an awesome epic and one that will definitely go down in the annals of movie making.

Definitely can't waite for the complete triology extended edition box set.

The Lord of the Rings could be the greatest Trilogy ever filmed. It's top competitors being the Original Star Wars Trilogy and The Godfather Trilogy.

Godfather III was Okay, unfortunatly Sophia Coppola can't act and sucked the life out of that film (thank goodness she inhereted her father's directors gene).

And Lucas Blew the Star Wars trilogy when he introduced those annoyingly cute merchandising gimmick known as "The Ewoks"

LOTR's will definatly have a place on my top films of all time, but in my humble opinion, the greatest film ever made is the 1927 Sci-Fi classic, "Metropolis"

Kino's (www.kino.com) newly restored DVD is a vision for the eyes. Recreating the soundtrack using the original score enhances the film even more. Still a masterpiece after all these years.

I can't agree with you more Herby....those Ewoks were horrible. Much like Jar Jar or over-rated John Woo films...although, I must admit I would've liked to have seen the Orcs of Mordor stir up an Ewok BBQ before a battle. always wondered what kind of noise ewoks would make being burned alive....hmmmm...sweet and sour sauce for dressing I think :)

As for best trilogy....I'd say Lord of the Rings or the Indiana Jones movies...can't forget good ol' Dr.Jones.

u hav a dum name, pimp juice!

The best trilogy??? There are so many and i bet there are many trilogys that i haven't seen. But my favourites are the back to the future, indiana Jones, star wars and the dollar series. If i had to choose one then i will feel ashamed of myself for not picking the others which are also so great. I liked indiana Jones like star wars because it had great imagination, and pulled me into the world of movies. Indiana Jones did this as powerfuly as star wars and didn't harldy use any special effects which i think should be congratulated on more then it does. Lord of the rings is a great trilogy. I didn't think they made good movies anymore....i was proven wrong!

Good God, what is wrong with people. The 3rd movie sucked, sucked, sucked. What a disappointment. Sorry, I'm not "feelin' it". Even the battle sequences in ROTK sucked. It was all so boring, I wanted to scream. Liked the first, loved the second and hated the last. Oh well...thank god there's not a fourth.

Bah! Pearls before swine! ROTK was kickass. It's gotta be really hard to live up to the expectations of the third installment of a literary giant like Tolkien's LOTR, and I think Jackson did it better than pretty much anybody out there could have. The action, the beauty, the tradgedy, the heroism....
It's all there. One of the main reasons I like these movies so
much is that they're just *right*. For me, they peg the entire
Tolkien cosmology right on the money. The look, the feel...
I mean, Wow! In this day and age of crappy films and garbage, made-for-the-money sequels, the LOTR trilogy is a true gem.
Sure, some elements of the story are missing, and it's a shame,
but really, since it's 90% amazingly kickass, I think most of the Tolkien nerds out there can forgive those little omissions.
Maybe some of the stuff they cut out will be on the DVD's...

The only thing I worry about is if Jackson is ambitous enough
to tackle "The Silmarillion", given the phenomenal success of
LOTR. I dont think it's nescessarily a good idea. I think it
would be *extremely* hard to do a good version of the silmarillion, and not just have it feel like some extended
enya/elves in rivendell trip. I mean, how would one go about
visualizing for the screen the sheer power and majesty of the
valar, and the ultimite blackness and evil that is Melkor, the
original dark lord, of whom Sauron was only a servant?
I dont think it would be easy, and I sinceraly hope that if
Jackson is contemplating it, he really takes his time on it and
doesnt rush it. My 2 cents....Peace!

I would say yes, in my own opinion the RotK is the best movie of all time! This review has taken the words to describe it out of my mouth, only better then I probably could have expressed myself. I liked the Fellowship, and the Two Towers is good, (although I liked it better the second time I saw it) but the Return of the King made it for me. Indeed it has every element of what makes a good movie set to the top of its potential, and perfection. Many great movies have come before, star wars, Indiana Jones, back to the future, even Seabiscuit, (witch I absolutely loved) and one of my very favorites, Somewhere in Time etc. but none of those have ever left the impression that this movie has left on me. In fact I think the first two, seem only guides to the last. I have not read all the books, (I am reading them) but I have been a fan of Tolkien and Middle Earth for a long time. But only after watching this movie have I had new interest in this great Story. At the end of RotK, I felt a slight disappointment that it was over. (even though it was 3:30 hours) but alas, it had to end. I had to return to this world, and indeed the ending was outstanding! But I do not think they should make any more movies on this subject, as the rest is left to book. I am done now with my 2 bits. "I riëviltë atayéva Aran!"

9 hours and twnty minutes... soon to be over twelve hours when the extended version of ROTK comes out, of pure film-making. There is a buzz that Jackson will be filming the Hobbit after King Kong. That would be great. I do hope so.

The other Trilogies mentioned(in my opinion) do not even come close.

Star Wars was ruined by the Ewoks, and the less said about Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones The Better.

Indiana Jones is not really a Trilogy, they are three seperate distinct stories, there is no story arc to sustain it as a trilogy.

Back to the Future was a lot of fun, but that's about all.

Lord of The Rings is a pure cinematic experience.

It IS the greatest Trilogy in Movie History.

Yes, yes, yes! The greatest movie of all time! How could it be anything else? Who cares about acting, dialogue, or editing? Not me! I can't get enough of "suddenly, XXX shows up and wipes everybody out" surprises! Nor "XXX dies... no wait, he's alive!" twists! And who needs stinky girls in movies anyway?

This history-changing trilogy taught me that good is good, and bad is bad, and good is more good than bad! Of COURSE you need 9 hours to understand that! Some may think that's trite, but not me! I'm just 4 years old!

I'm sorry, did someone just say "Back to the Future was a lot of fun, but that's about all"??

>I'm sorry, did someone just say "Back to the Future was a lot of fun, >but that's about all"??

That would be me. Lots of fun, I loved all three films, not what I would call a masterpiece.

LOTR is Oscar worthy. You cannot say the same about BTTF (outside special effects and sound). Although Christopher Lloyd was brilliant.

Okay, yeah I'll agree with the Oscar worthy statement yeah, I'll give you that - I think it's likely because those films were essentially my entire life way back in the day that I go all hyper about them. And yes, as far as special effects go, especially since it was before the digital age, it's commonly overlooked, but BTTF II has some of the best special effects ever made at the time of print.

Crap, now I gotta go watch 'em again... bugger me....

OMG, so before i ever saw the first movie, i was like eww, whoever watches these things are such geeks. Then i saw it. After the first movie i had so many reactions. Besides the fact that Legolas and Aragorn are the hottest things on Earth, the story had every component that an excellent movie should have. War, happiness, love (aragorn and arwen, loved them), sadness, victory, death, it was all there. And suddenly i was one of those people i used to think were geeks. Since then, im obssesed, and i cant wait till the Return of the King comes out on video so i can buy it and complete my collection. The story ended just like everything should. It was the best movie i have ever seen.

I don't understand why anyone would like what Peter Jackson & Company did to Tolkien's (unless you equate special effects and cinematography with quality), but "10 hours of Xena" is about the best way I can classify it; there was no need to dumb it down to the Gen-X level where nothing happens like in the book, and everything looks like an over-produced and under-intelligent smart-assed, politically correct movie.

Although the tone of this movie is standard for today's over-violent, arrogant, and self-indulgent Hollywood screen fare, that's hardly a good thing; in fact it's so far below the level of Tolkien's work that "pearls before swine" is the best way to describe a work of majesty and dignity sullied in the manner of an "Indiana Jones" flick. It would have been better as a low-key production like the original Star Wars, to avoid being ruined as a vehicle for the bitch Olivia Tyler screaming "I wanna play the princess!" like when Star Wars became spoiled by success into thinking it could do no wrong, and became a big-bucks version of "The Muppet Movie" with Yodas, Hutts and Ewoks-- Jar-jar was the last straw, and they finally put the puppets in the box with "Attack of the Clones" and stuck to real live people-- for a change, which made it the best Star Wars movie since the first one; it's too bad they couldn't have stuck with the LOTR books in the same way.

(SPOILERS below)
The first time I saw ROTK, I said "That sure sucked." The second and third times I saw ROTK, I said "Why do I keep coming to see this movie? It sucks." I'm sure after I've volunteered to see it for a fourth, fifth and possibly sixth+ time, I will have the same comment.

I do not think ROTK is the greatest movie of all time. I submit, however, that the complete 'trilogy' is the greatest movie of all time, the most satisfying movie-going experience I can remember (I really liked the South Park movie and Lawrence of Arabia, tho), and just plain awesome.

I complained that ROTK sucked b/c I was a little too distracted by petty annoyances to really enjoy "the characters, the conflict, the love, the heroism, the bravery, the frailty . . ." (see John's post, above). It WAS an emotional film -- perhaps more so than the books. But but but (SPOILERS follow)

1) Gandalf tells Faramir to tell him "everything" but then never seems to realize that Gollum is with Frodo and Sam. Shouldn't he seem at least a little concerned?

2) After she kills the Witch King, Eowyn disappears until the very end, when she's at the coronation dealy, standing next to Faramir (who also disappears). None of the characters seem to care what happened to her.

3) The eagles. I know we saw one in FOTR, but none in TTT, and I think you're supposed to establish such plot elements early in the story so it doesn't seem like an easy out when they do show up. Remember, Pippin says, "The eagles!" when they show up. How the nertz does he know about 'the eagles' in the movie? I felt cheated.

Just a sampling. And yes, they are trivial. But if you're going to be considered a great film maker, it doesn't matter so much how you interpret someone else's story as it matters that you cover all your bases within the framework of the movie.

Bottom line: FOTR will always be my favorite, TTT was really good, and, even for all its trivial cinematic oopses, ROTK is really great, it should get an Oscar, Sean Astin should get an Oscar, I cried through half the dang thing, and I will see it as many times as I can.

Lord of the Rings The Return of the King is also my favourite movie by far because you feel the reality of the characters' situations and sympathize, after all some of the conflicts are parallel to real life. I especially felt sorry for Eowyn who fell in love with a man she could not be with, and the same goes for eowyn for most of the period of the movie trilogy. This happens in real life, it's just lucky for them both they had happy endings :)
When I saw it with my father and gushed about it for hours afterwards he would also reply " It is really only a fairy story Tolkien made for his grandchildren" Yet does anybody feel like it is? No, I could easily imagine it to be history and that is why I love the movies, they incorporate the magic and enchantment of this distant realm but kept it believable enough to make it that much more emotional for us to watch the characters we have grown to love battle it out.
I am an New Zealander and I can not put into words how proud it has made our small country to have been such a prominent part of the making of the movies and it is something we recognise as our kiwis' hard work and accomplishment, especially Peter Jackson. The world is finally recognising New Zealand for it's beauty and talent, and it is all thanks to Lord of the Rings. I am just glad I was able to witness it and remember I lived in the time of it's production because it will be a timeless success for many years to come.
The only negative thing I thought about it the first time I saw it was that Eowyn's and Faramir's love story was not shown, but in retrospect it would have held the movie up, it was perfect the way it was and I can't wait for the extended DVD to hopefully see it there!

Long Live Lord of the Rings! :D

(sorry if there are spelling mistakes, I am fourteen and grammer is not my strong point! )

You've already read what I thought about Return of the King, and obviously we disagree, but I have to say that you make a very compelling case. I've actually never read/heard a more passionate or convincing defense of the movie. Not to say that I change my mind, but maybe there is something I missed. You definitely made me want to see it again, just in case.

All I have to say is that this movie is way over rated. Yes it was entertaining but for the most part it was not the best film making. OVER RATED