I managed to get out to see "Return of the King" today. It was, simply, wonderful. I gasped, laughed and cried. For a review, I quote someone else's weblog, quoting J. Michael Straczynski (my hero).

J. Michael Straczynski, creator of Babylon 5 and confessed Tolkein fan, summarized "The Return of the King" nicely:

"The Return of the King" is magnificent on every level. There are times you feel you're looking at some forgotten history come to life, the imagery is almost painfully beautiful at times, breathtaking and awe-inspiring other times. I remember sitting there, thinking there are some things one feels priviliged to have lived long enough to have seen. This is one of them. It's brave, heroic, tragic, moving, funny, inspiring and wistful all at the same time.

So for those who were hoping for the best...your hopes will be realized. It's just freaking magnificent."

And now I can finally re-read it. I read it in 1975, when I was in college, and wanted to wait till I'd seen all three movies before reading it again. I didn't want to taint my enjoyment of the movies by comparing them to a recent reading of the books.