My expectations were mixed because I was let down by TTT, and ROTK is my least favorite of the books, however at the same time every review says its brilliant so I was really hoping it would eb good, but what movie ever lives up to hype like that?

This one does.

Magnificent. Defintiely the best of the trilogy. Book wise I like TTT best, then FOTR and ROTK a distant third. But movie wise its the complete opposite. I like ROTK the best, then FOTR and then TTT.

I feel like PJ must of been tired or something making TTT or he just wasn't as in to that one, because I have trouble believeing it was made by the same guy. Don't get me wrong, TTT is in and of itself a great film, but IMHO it doesn't measure up to the other two.

Back to ROTK:

I loved that the hobbits were center stage again. I love how they got it so close to the book and yet excluded all the right stuff, which is why the fellowship movie worked so well.

I was so swept up it never felt like a long movie.

Oddly enough, and I may change my position in a couple days, but as much as I liked it, I don't feel compelled to run out and see it again. I have to soak it up for a while, really absorb the whole expirence. It was just so big and amazing that I need some time to recover.

it wasn't quite as sad as I thought it would be, both FOTR and TTT had me close to tears at the end, but Frodos departure in the final scene felt more like a happy ending then I thought it would, and Theodens death (which actually DID may me cry when I read the book) was sad, but not as heartbreaking as I thought it would be. That really a minor complaint though.

The gollum scene that opened the movie was wonderful, the colour looked amazing, as it did in the final scene, infact in general this is the first LOTR film where the colour really jumped out at me as amazing. The arrival at the destroyed Isengard at the beginning was also quite noteworthy.

The lighting of the beacons scene, and Gandalf and Pippin arriving in Minas tirith were two of my favorite scenes. But then again there wasn't one scene I didn't really like.

Things I'm looking forward to in the EE:

-saruman's demise
-Merry being knighted by Theoden
-Faramir and Eowyn in the house of healing
-the Orc general meeting his demise, I'm hoping Gimli takes him out
-the mouth of Sauron

The Faramir/denethor stuff was heartbreaking

If I had any real beef with movie, I thought that the eye of Sauron suddenly becoming a cartoony lighthouse was a bit too silly, and the eye bulging and freaking out in some parts looked a little silly. However, its still one million times better then what I heard they were doing, which was having Sauron come back to life and fight Aragorn at the black gates. I read a PJ interview where he said they were doing that, thank god he changed his mind.

The only other thing that kind of seemed weird to me, but this was in the book so I can't really complain, it was more just something I thought they would modify, which was that Gollum fell in the lava by accident, I would of rather he sort of redeemed himself by doing it on purpose, that he summoned the strength to destroy the ring and himself in the final moments, isntead of Frodo pushing him.

Shelob looked great, and it was a great moment for Sam, but I thought the spiders in Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets were a bit more real looking. Again, a very minor thing. I knew Shelob was working well when I saw my wife covering her eyes (she's terrified of spiders)

All and all, a damn perfect movie, and likely the best picture winner this year. What else could beat it?

Here's my top movies of the year in no particular order:

-Return of the King
-Finding Nemo
-Master and Commander
-X-men2
-28 days later
-Kill Bill Vol. 1

and the two that Ihaven't seen yet that I really want to are Last samurai and Lost in translation.