best. king. ever. (the return of the king)

my almost embarrassingly positive review of the return of the king is over at jive. it’s been posted there for a couple of days now, but i’ve been out of town and away from the internet…

where, you ask? why, up in the misty mountains, of course!

December 23, 2003 – 6:18 pm | By Thomas | Posted in Reviews | Comments (10)
  • http://www.thezipman.com Zip

    So, did you like it or not?

    /sarcasm

  • Amanda

    One very small quibble:

    Ask an eight year old. They’re not playing cowboys and indians. Sure, they want bows and arrows, but just so they can be like Legolas.

    Do you really think this movie is appropriate for children as young as eight? It’s rated PG-13 for a reason. I certainly wouldn’t want kids much younger than that there–not that I care if children are “corrupted,” mind you, but I’ve talked to several people who have been bothered by children in the theatre. Some extra-bright 8 year olds may well be so enraptured that they will sit through a 3.5 hour movie without complaint, but I’m not so sanguine about *all* of them.

    Also, have you seen this and its rebuttal here?

  • b

    I would like to say that movies are entertainment, and as such one cannot complain about the presence of children at such events. If you want a child free movie try the late show on a weekday, otherwise deal with them. They have the same rights as you do to be in that theatre.

  • Janice

    Night shows are not so child free anymore. Just ask the 2 year old that was seated next to me at the 10:30pm showing of Finding Nemo.

  • http://www.grabbingsand.org Thomas

    Do you really think this movie is appropriate for children as young as eight?

    When my co-worker in Americus first mentioned that he was bringing his 8-yr old to the movie, I was concerned. I thought about the scary creatures and the sheer peril and the graphic violence, wondering if that was at all appropriate.

    But then I remembered what my favorite movie was at the age of 8. Star Wars. As a matter of fact, it was my favorite movie when I first saw it at the age of five. And to this day, I would love to be a Jedi.

    And kids today want to be Legolas, which is much better than looking up to card-slinging Yu-Gi-Oh masters, eh?

  • Jo

    OK. After days of holding it in.. I Have to say it again.. I COULD DO WITHOUT THE WHOLE LAST 30 minutes of ROTK. Sorry. it was too Hollywood and is exactly what extended DVD’s are for. As far as it being for children around 8 years old.. Um NEWS FLASH kids are having sex at 11.. Sooo I think they could definately and should see more movies like ROTK. I still believe ROTK is the best movie of that genre I saw this year..And 3 hours of it was truelly amazing. I just didn’t need the “Star Wars Ending”.

  • Amanda

    And kids today want to be Legolas, which is much better than looking up to card-slinging Yu-Gi-Oh masters, eh?

    Undoubtably, but my point was that LOTR is significantly more graphic than Star Wars. I do think it’s awesome if eight-year-olds are into it, but let’s not forget that Tolkien did not did not write the books on a third-grade level, and Jackson (to his credit) did very little dumbing-down. Have you talked to your co-worker since then to see what his child actually thought of it?

    These kids today have it too easy. When I was a kid, we had to make do with the old animated version of The Hobbit, and we *liked* it. And we walked five miles to school in the snow!

  • Darrell

    My favorite was always:

    Back in my day we didn’t HAVE Strom Thurmond. Oh wait, yes we did.

    I always liked the cute little animated Hobbit, and the less popular, less cohesive, less impressive 2 part half animated/half live action Lord of the Rings that followed it. I also liked that those versions reproduced some of Tolkien’s songs. Reportedly, Jackson did the same thing with his movies, but focus groups hated them, so they got cut. In some ways I’m thankful. The eight year olds in the audience never would have stood for it.

  • http://www.sushithegreat.com sushi

    Way too many people are complaining about the ending. How can you say that it was all Hollywood? That’s the way Tolkien wrote it…maybe Jackson could have cut most of the ending out, but I liked the fact that he left it in. Instead of the movie suddenly ending, there was a nice slow resolution where you get to see what happens to everyone in the years following the war.

    Oh, and yeah, I’ve seen young children at 10, 11, even midnight showings of movies. I don’t mind kids being there, I just think that they should be quiet at a movie just like everyone else. If your child can’t be polite to other moviegoers by sitting still and being quiet, then you shouldn’t take them. That’s why we have movie rental stores.

  • http://www.debt-consolidation-low-rates.biz Basescu Nina

    He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare,And he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere.