I just got back from seeing Return of the King, and I was staggered by it. At least as important as that, the whole theater full of people -- and it was FULL of people -- were carried away, completely involved, and, as intended by the director, in turn laughing, crying, silent with tension, all but hissing at various villainous antics, rightly appalled at Denethor, gasping at bravery, and applauding -- actually applauding, not wildly, but it was there -- for Eowyn, for Sam, for... well, I won't go on. For goodness sake go out and see it yourself!
I've heard and read critics say it takes a while to get going. It didn't seem to be a problem for the theater full of people I saw it with. Someone said that the beginning of it seemed like repeats of what had gone before. I saw very little of this, and each time in a slightly different context; and I've watched very carefully indeed, the earlier films and now this one.
A big test of the involvement of the audience was an unplanned interruption at one of the moments of high tension more than halfway along. One moment the whole audience was rapt, waiting to see what would happen, and then those ridiculous slides they show at the beginning of movies, the ones with ads and quiz questions about movies, the ones you don't want to see, you just want the movie to start already, THOSE slides came on. In the middle of the Return of the King!
The audience took almost a second of silent shock, and then they ROARED. Then they settled back, except for the weak-bladdered who decided this was a good time to slip out and go to the can. It's a good thing a guy came along to fix it right away. We only had to watch maybe 10 slides -- and we knew he was in there working away -- and the movie came on again just where it had left off, and here's the real point: the whole audience was back in it and quiet as a mouse (except for the people returning from the necessary making their way back to their seats). So: rapt, wrenched out, and put right back in again. Genuine movie magic.
Peter Jackson really delivered with this one. He's delivered with all of them, but this one really socks it to you. He's a genius, telling us an epic cinematically, and KEEPING OUR INTEREST. Think about that for a moment. He has kept our interest through three long films released one per year for three years. Some people were so hopped up and I-just-can't-wait about it in between films they acted like little kids jigging up and down because of how bad they wanted to go.
Just go see it. There's no possible excuse not to.
4:45:28 PM 
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