The King Has Returned! (Did he ever!)

This past friday night I watched THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING for the THIRD time since it's release. Well, I saw the FELLOWSHIP once, and the TWO TOWERS twice, so I only saw it fit to see RETURN OF THE KING three times!...yup, there's no logic in that whatsoever, but I couldn't help it. No but serously, my main purpose on friday WAS to accompany those (Iya, Joe and Randy) who had not the pleasure of viewing the excellent film yet. I loved how Iya would tap me every other scene if she had a question! One time during the movie we moved in at the same time and bumped heads! But I digress...

The first time I saw FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, I thought it was a scary movie. I jumped a couple times during the film (when Bilbo's face turns monstrous when he asks Frodo to give him the ring at Rivendell and when Galadriel becomes this creepy, evil ghost lady when the fellowship was in Lorien). But then I saw it a second time in the comfort of my own living room and I was suddenly inspired (not only by Orlando Bloom), but by the story itself. By the time THE TWO TOWERS had been released, I had become a fan. I read all three books (save for the HOBBIT, which is my next venture) and waited anxiously for the third installment of Tolkien's masterpiece.

So I've sat in the theater for 3 hours and 21 minutes (THREE TIMES) for RETURN OF THE KING and each time I was nothing short of enthralled at this epic on the big screen before me. The film is so powerful, with its battle scenes, and at times so heartwrenching that you forget it's a fantasy (or is it?). Even though I had read the books and I knew what scenes were to follow, I was scared for Frodo & Sam with that evil and conniving Gollum hanging on them; I was proud of Pippin and Merry, who although had thought they were too little to fight for themselves, much less all of Middle Earth, showed themselves to be worth of the greatest honor one can bestow on such courageous beings; I saw the fear and doubt in Gandalf, who everyone depends on for guidance; I was anxious for Aragorn to apply that courage and fearlessness to the regal future before him and rescue his beloved Arwen from a deadly fate she chose in order to be with him; I marveled at Gimli and Legolas, who through their devotion to the Aragorn and the fellowship, managed to thwart their disdain in order to form a friendship between the unlikeliest of peoples in Middle Earth; I saw Faramir & Eowyn, who (I might be killing this for someone who hasn't read the book) I couldn't be happier, formed a most perfect union symbolizing the bond between Rohan and Gondor.

Am I reading too into it? Maybe. Kinda proves the kind of genius J.R.R. Tolkien was though, doesn't it, to move his readers in the way that he has. And the genius of Peter Jackson and his team to aid our visual needs. I can't wait for the dvd...and moreover...THE EXTENDED VERSION! I predict THAT's gonna be at least 4 1/2 hours long at the very least...with this I say BRING ON THE POPCORN!