6. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
It's something of a running joke when talking about Peter Jackson's studiously-assembled Rings movies, but the finale, Return of the King, undercuts its overall brilliance with a distended ending sequence that goes on...and on...and on. Those of us who saw it in the cinema will doubtless remember the droves of audience members who went to get up from their seat about a dozen times at the "end" of the film, and the dissatisfied groans that followed when yet another scene began. Jackson was so focused on giving us a definitive close to the trilogy that he appeared to completely forget about how much liquid a bladder can actually hold; the queue for the toilets afterwards was a mile long, even for the guys. Would it have killed Jackson to cut some of the less-urgent elements out and save them for that coveted Extended Edition? It's a case of a talented director reaching too far and nobody having the courage to tell him otherwise; call it George Lucas Syndrome.
Shaun Munro
Contributor
Frequently sleep-deprived film addict and video game obsessive who spends more time than is healthy in darkened London screening rooms. Follow his twitter on @ShaunMunroFilm or e-mail him at shaneo632 [at] gmail.com.
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