The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

"Don't worry that your expectations will be too high - Return Of The King will exceed them all."

"The sense of closure is exquisite, but I'm not sure I'm able to forgive Peter Jackson for the three years that he has taken to put it on the screen. The wait has been excruciating."

"No flabber has been left ungasted by Mr Jackson's mighty battle sequences, nor no gob unsmacked."

"Yes, the running time is long, and yes, those many endings in a slow, dreamy coda left me feeling spent - better spent than I can ever remember."

"Some story strands are crudely abbreviated; others fail to develop elements that were already well-established."

"The resounding climax to a landmark in cinema history."

"Pops your eyes, excites your senses and brings you in as close as a whisper for scenes of startling emotion."

"A masterpiece, rich with character, ambience, and exhilarating action."

"The final chapter... restores faith in the idea that popular entertainment can soar to majestic heights."

"A movie for our time, perhaps for all time, mostly a good time and definitely a long time."

"Utterly breathtaking."

"The Return of the King is, at its most visceral level, a grand adventure with lots of fun things to look at."

"Towers above its predecessors with cleaner storytelling and a more satisfying balance between terrific acting and eye-popping effects."

"Majestic, moving and immense... about as awesome as cinema gets."

"A breathtaking argument for director Peter Jackson winning every award there is to give..."

"I can’t think of... another monumental work of sustained storytelling that surges ahead with so much inventiveness and ardor."

"The final battle is kind of magnificent. I found myself thinking of the visionary films of the silent era, like Lang ("Metropolis") and Murnau ("Faust"), with their desire to depict fantastic events of unimaginable size and power, and with their own cheerful reliance on visual trickery."

"A “King” that earns its crown, Peter Jackson’s final installment in his monumental “The Lord of the Rings” represents that filmmaking rarity — a third part of a trilogy that is decisively the best of the lot."