Before I saw the Return of the King, my favourite of the trilogy was the Fellowship of the Ring. It had granduer, a sense of foreboding, and light relief to help balance the melancholy tone. The Two Towers, I felt, lacked a certain something and was hard going but this I suspect is because it was the middle film which is always going to be the hardest to portray. I wasn't sure how they would end it all. It could either be a complete flop or a piece of cinema history. Well, ROTK exceeded all my expectations and more! The pace was fast, the battle scenes exciting, but what made it for me was the very real and true friendship between Frodo and Sam. I cried with a lump in my throat when Sam sobbed at Frodo's rejection, and tears rolled down my cheeks and my heart swelled when Sam said I can't carry the ring, but I can carry you! as he slung the exhausted Frodo over his shoulder. I defy anyone not to weep at that scene. I would sit through 9 whole hours of The Lord of the Rings just to see that again. Brilliant. I only hope Elijah Wood and Sean Astin recieve the recognition they deserve. As for the rest of the cast, Aragorn was splendid, Eowyn convincingly courageous (her slaying of the fell beast and Witch King was stunning), Gimli and Legolas made the most of their short screen time and Faramir was an extremely sympathetic character. Merry and Pippin developed so as to be more than just mere comic relief. The giant Spider Shelob was terrifying, a brilliant horror scene that showed Peter Jackson's horror genre roots. But there was to me one fault and here I wholeheartedly agree with MissMellie, that a voiceover, either from Galadriel who began it, or a longer one from Frodo could have tied up the loose ends of the film more succinctly. This could have been done in ten minutes and the final scene could have been of the ship sailing for the Grey Havens. That would have been a far more satisfying ending than seeing Sam, a worthy character but not the main protagonist, shutting the door of his hobbit-hole. The first time I watched the film I didn't want it to end, the second time the ending's numerous farewells grated on me. The story already had pathos it did not need more sentimentality added. But it feels a shame to nitpick on this one thing, so congratulations to Peter Jackson and the cast members and everyone associated with the production for making my trips to the cinema so worthwhile!