By SUSAN LULGJURAJ

There was one thing I hoped for one I sat down to watch Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. I was praying that with the end in sight after so much hard work Peter Jackson & Co. put in, they weren’t just going to mail one in just to reach an end.

Heavily weighing on my mind was the disappointment from The Matrix Revolutions. There was nothing awe-inspiring about the effects or the characters and questions were left unanswered in the third part of that trilogy. There was no closure.

But Jackson decided seven years was too much time to waste just throw together any type of film we could catch on cable. Put together is one of the greatest films of the year and the best of the three movies, which is why there might have been what seemed like and extended ending that so many complained went too far. There was too much at stake to let go so easily and that was the theme throughout the movie.

Not one person, hobbit, elf, even orc gives up when beaten, bruised, and ridiculed or on the doorstep of death, giving up is not even an option. Aragorn, Gandalf, Gollum, Sam, or Jackson. They all fought until there was no more fighting left to do. And even when it was all over, Frodo still had to fight the memories and the pains of triumph that could never be erased.

Gimli sums it up when he asks his comrades “What are they waiting for?” when they have already surmised that they have little or no chance to succeed in their next mission – fight the Orcs at the front gate of Mordor.

The movie begins with Gollum when he was Smeagol and how he came to be with the One Ring. It engulfed him to point where his insanity has driven him to now. It also shows that Sam was right all along, Gollum is not one to be trusted, but with Frodo as the ring bearer, he listens to Gollum.

Sean Astin plays one of the bravest characters in the story. He never once had to risk his life for Frodo because he doesn’t bear the weight of the ring and this “task wasn’t appointed to him.” But he stays with his friend and proves the he is Samwise the Brave. Viggo Mortensen plays the most humble king to ever walk through Middle Earth. It takes time for him to accept his role only he doesn’t realize he had been doing it all along.

But the biggest surprise of the film was the way women were depicted. Before they seemed like fragile creatures that were easily consumed by the feelings of love and loneliness. It was these feelings that brought out the greatest strengths in Arwen and Eowyn. Liv Tyler while not very active and delegated to minor dialogue made the choice that many Elves before have not or would not make.

Eowyn plays the role of the heroine exuberantly and makes the audience remember that she is definitely a woman.

While the drainage of a 3 hour and 20 minute movie can take its toll on the unassuming (but who doesn’t know of Lord of the Rings) moviegoer, the highlight is knowing the DVD always has an extended version.