Category: New Zealand

Peter Jackson received a hero’s welcome in New Zealand yesterday as the Return of the King officially premiered in Wellington. I’ve been reading a number of online reviews lately, which I won’t link to as they’re so spoilerific. But so far the consensus seems to be (a) RotK is easily the best of the three and (b) some of the Theatrical Edition streamlining will aggravate Tolkien fans. I must admit, I was disturbed to find out some of the many scenes that have been edited out of the film, but I presume they’ll all be back for the EE next November, so I guess I really can’t complain. And if RotK is half as good as everyone is making it out to be, then I probably won’t care once the film starts anyway. At any rate, only two weeks to go… Update: Here’s a relatively non-spoilerish review that gets the consensus point across: The film is stunning. Amazing. Frightening. Breathtaking. Heartbreaking. Epic and intimate all at once. Booyah.