The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

I spoke earlier of classic trilogies, and how dissapointing the other trilogy conclusion this year was. So, I went into the third and final installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy with great anticipation. The other two movies, Fellowship and Two Towers, are some of my favorite movies of all time. I read the books when I was young, and what I saw on the screen matched what I saw in my head so perfectly. Everything about the other two movies was perfect.
And, not surprising, I thought Return of the King was one of the best movies of the year. At close to 3 and a half hours, it was the longest of the three, but there was so much more to tell in this story. It picks up from the conclusion of the Two Towers, and moves to the thrilling battle of Minas Tirith. Compared to the Battle of Helm's Deep in Two Towers, it was so spectacular. It lasted for the majority of the time we saw Gandalf and the majority of the fellowship. Everything looked so spectacular.
But the heart of the story, which has always been, was Frodo and Samwise. Gollum leads them into Mordor, but he takes them through the back way, and into the clutches of Shelob, a huge spider. After Gollum and Frodo turn on Sam, he comes after them and saves Frodo from Shelob. But, orcs take Frodo and rob him. Sam has the ring, and goes on a tear to save Frodo.
In the end, Gollum returns to try and steal the ring inside of Mount Doom. He gets pushed into the lava, and gets the ring in the end. The look on Gollum's face is priceless as he gets the ring, then realizes he's burning to death.
The emotional impact of this movie is heightened by the end. All the characters are so perfectly drawn out. And everything is done so well. Personally, I'd give oscar noms to Vigo Mortenson, Ian McKellen, and Sean Astin. They all put in superb performances and stood head ans shoulders above the rest of the cast.
So, of course I'm giving it a 10. That's the third ten I've given this year, and I've seen enough movies. And this one was the perfect way to end the year.

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