There can be no triumph, without loss. No victory, without suffering. No freedom, without sacrifice. The journey will end, one way or another. As the shadow of Mordor grows across the land, Aragorn is revealed as the hidden heir to the ancient kings and makes his way to the halls of his forefathers the kings of Gondor. But his journey will not be easy as he has to travel the paths of the dead a place no living man returns from. With his now faithful companions Gimli and Legolas they will dare trend where no man has before as the hope of Gondor lies with them. All the while Gandalf has miraculously returned and he defeats the evil wizard, Saruman and over throws Isengard with the help of the Ents and the two unlikely heroes of Pippin and Merry. But all hope is in the hands of two Hobbits on the borders of Mordor. After the betrayal of their guide Gollum, Sam leaves his master for the dead after a battle with the giant spider, Shelob; but Frodo is still alive and in the hands of the Orcs which Sam finds out to late. Now, Sam must find some way to break into their fortress and rescue his master before it is too late, so they can finish their journey to the cracks of doom and destroy the one ring. All the while the armies of the Dark Lord are massing, and as the one ring comes ever closer to the Cracks of Doom the last remnants of the fellowship of the ring must draw the Dark Lord's eye away from his lands if Frodo and Sam are to have any chance at all.

A lot of things have been said about the Lord of the Rings movies over the last couple years, from grand adventure to an amazing epic that scales all time. And for the most part these are true, the movies unfold in such a grand manner that it is hard to not be amazed by them. Sure there not perfect, nothing is. But, despite what some of the naysayers may try and find to discredit the movies like them not holding entirely true to the books, I would find it amazing that everyone does not realize what cinematic masterpieces these movies are. They draw you in with what I believe Tolkien might have wanted a childhood like wonder at this world and all the fantastic elements of it. The movies have everything from incredible battles, to romance, to drama and to the telling of great deeds done by those of little stature.

Return of the King does not fail its predecessors in keeping the magic alive and delivers an amazing end to a trilogy that has kept audiences waiting with bated breath. The movie is more cinematic and even more grand than its predecessors as it ties up all the loose ends and delivers an end to what has become regarded as one of the greatest series of movies in history. I feel the movie was more toughing that either of its predecessors as some of the moments were done with more grace, like Pippin’s singing when Faramir goes to battle was nothing less than touching and glorious. The movie could have ended in several places and I do not think audiences would have been disappointed by any of these endings. This movie felt more like one of the extended versions as it dealt more with the emotions of the hobbits giving the movie a humanity the theatrical version of The Two Towers lacked. Those who loved the first two movies will not fail to fall in love with The Return of the King as it is easily the best of the three movies and delivers on all the promise the first two movies gave it.
5 stars out of 5