This movie achieves the unimaginable of earning 5 stars despite Legolas using the phrase “game over” after winning a drinking game.

So glad I finally got a chance to see these in theaters. Having watched all three, I can say with confidence these three as a single unit are my all-time favorite film, hands down.

Watching this again in the wake of Bernard Hill’s passing, his scenes hit way harder, and I was able to appreciate his character way more deeply than I ever have watching his performance, and the way he constantly straddles the line between projecting an aura of authority, and serving as a man of the people willing to ride out into certain death right alongside them.

There’s a million more things I want to say about this movie and the trilogy as a whole, but my brain is absolutely worn out now, so maybe some other time I’ll come back and jot down some more unorganized thoughts here.