| Reviewed on 2004-01-16 |
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| Rated | R |
| Received |  [4] out of 4 stars |
| Genre | Action / Adventure / Fantasy |
| Website | http://www.lordoftherings.net/ |
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It seems everyone has been talking about this 3rd and final episode to the LOR trilogy by Peter Jackson. An ensemble cast includes Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Ian McKellen, Sean Astin, and Liv Tyler. I was truly astounded by this final part of Peter Jackson's trilogy about the enchanted ring. Spanning the Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King, this is an amazing story of courage, honor and friendship. It has fantastic action scenes and great adventure, yet it remains grounded in humanity, a trait you don't often see in today's films.
The final chapter of this story is even better than I had hoped. Key characters are enhanced, new civilizations are realized and battle scenes more intense and grand scaled than it seems possible. The battle of battles ensues between good and evil in epic proportions. The multiple story lines and conflicts are resolved. Certain sequences remind you of epic battles in the Star Wars films with giant elephants lumbering into battle. Even though the film has a great ensemble of actors, none of them hog the action. Ian McKellen's Gandalf has a larger role in this third film, transforming from a wizard/prophet to a strong army general. My only regret was not joining my friends for the 12-hour marathon where all three films were shown. They had a ball. Unlike other trilogies such as Star Wars, Matrix and Harry Potter, Rings was scripted in advance and shot together over 274 days in 1999, with up to 10 production units shooting at the same time. Each part was budgeted at about $100 million.
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