The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It is the concluding film in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, following The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and The Two Towers (2002).

As Sauron launches the final stages of his conquest of Middle-earth, Gandalf the Wizard, and Théoden King of Rohan rally their forces to help defend Gondor's capital Minas Tirith from the looming threat. Aragorn finally claims the throne of Gondor and summons an army of ghosts to help him defeat Sauron. Ultimately, even with full strength of arms, they realise they cannot win; so it comes down to the Hobbits, Frodo and Sam, to bear the burden of the Ring and deal with the treachery of Gollum. After a long journey they finally arrive in the dangerous lands of Mordor, seeking to destroy the One Ring in the place it was created, the volcanic fires of Mount Doom.

Released on 17 December 2003, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King received rave reviews and became one of the greatest critical and box-office successes of all time, becoming the highest grossing film from New Line Cinema, as well as the biggest financial success for Time Warner in general, until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 surpassed The Return of the King's final gross in 2011. Notably, it won all eleven Academy Awards for which it was nominated, an Oscar record, and tied for largest number of awards won with Ben-Hur and Titanic. It also won the Academy Award for Best Picture, the first and only time a fantasy film has done so. It also surpassed Finding Nemo to become the highest-grossing film of 2003.

The Plot

Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Théoden, Gamling and Éomer meet up with Merry, Pippin and Treebeard at Isengard. The group returns to Edoras, where Pippin looks into a recovered palantír, in which Sauron appears and invades his mind; Pippin tells him nothing regarding Frodo and the Ring. From this event, Gandalf deduces that Sauron is planning to attack Minas Tirith. Gandalf rides with Pippin to find Denethor, the Steward of Gondor, to whom Pippin swears his service. Gandalf urges Denethor to call Rohan for aid, but Denethor declines, fearing Aragorn and Gandalf plan to depose him. The Morgul army, led by the Nazgûl, drives the Gondorians out of Osgiliath. Denethor sends his son Faramir on a suicide mission to reclaim the city. Pippin lights a beacon, signaling Théoden and Aragorn to assemble the Rohirrim for battle.

Elrond informs Aragorn that Arwen did not go to the Undying Lands, and is now dying. Believing their forces to be outnumbered by Sauron's, Elrond gives Aragorn the sword Andúril to acquire the service of the Army of the Dead, who owe allegiance to the heir of Isildur. Éowyn confesses her love for Aragorn and asks him not to go, but Aragorn reaffirms his love for Arwen and heads into battle. Accompanied by Legolas and Gimli, Aragorn ventures into the Paths of the Dead and gains the loyalty of the King of the Dead and his men by brandishing Andúril, proving himself the Heir of Isildur. At Dunharrow, Théoden rides off to war, unaware that Éowyn and Merry have secretly joined his forces.

Sauron's armies lay siege to Minas Tirith, led by the Witch-king. Believing a grievously wounded Faramir to be dead, Denethor tries to burn his son and himself alive, but Gandalf intervenes; he saves Faramir, but Denethor commits suicide. Just as the Gondorians are about to be overrun, the Rohirrim army arrives and counter-attacks in a massive cavalry charge led by Théoden. This shifts the tide of the battle, and the Orcs begin to retreat. However, the Haradrim arrive and join the Orc army, turning the tide. The Witch-king kills Théoden, only to be killed himself by Éowyn with help from Merry. On the verge of defeat, the Rohirrim are saved when Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli arrive with the Army of the Dead and decimate Sauron's forces, ending the battle. Aragorn frees the Army of the Dead and their souls go to the afterlife.

Meanwhile, Frodo, Sam and Gollum travel to Minas Morgul. Sam overhears Gollum's plans to murder them and take the Ring for himself. Gollum persuades Frodo that Sam wants the Ring for himself, and Frodo angrily tells Sam to go home. A heartbroken Sam leaves, but discovers Gollum's treachery and follows after them. Gollum betrays Frodo, leaving him in the lair of the giant spider Shelob, who paralyzes Frodo; moments later, however, Sam saves him. An Orc battalion captures Frodo and take him to Sauron's fortress. Sam rescues Frodo from the tower, and they continue the journey to Mount Doom.

Aragorn leads his remaining men to the Black Gate of Mordor, distracting Sauron and his forces and allowing Sam and Frodo to enter Mount Doom. Sam carries the weakened Frodo up the volcano, but Gollum attacks them. At the Crack of Doom, Frodo succumbs to the Ring's power, refusing to destroy it. Gollum attacks Frodo and bites his finger off, seizing the Ring for himself. An enraged Frodo attacks Gollum, and they both fall over the edge. At the last second, Frodo grabs onto the ledge, leaving Gollum to fall into the lava, taking the Ring with him. As the Ring melts in the volcano, Sauron is destroyed along with Mordor.

Frodo and Sam are saved from the rising lava by Eagles, led by Gandalf. In the aftermath, Aragorn is crowned King, heralding a new age of peace, and is reunited with Arwen and the four hobbits are bowed by all of Gondor for their courageous efforts. The four Hobbits return home to the Shire, where Sam marries his childhood sweetheart, Rosie Cotton. A few years later, Frodo leaves Middle-earth for the Undying Lands with Gandalf, Bilbo, Elrond, Celeborn and Galadriel, leaving his account of their quest to Sam.

Reviews and Awards

The film garnered widespread acclaim from critics; the film has a 94% rating of positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Richard Corliss of Time named it the best film of the year. The main criticism of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, was its running time, particularly the epilogue; even rave reviews for the film commented on its length. Joel Siegel of Good Morning America said in his review for the film (which he gave an 'A'): "If it didn't take forty-five minutes to end, it'd be my best picture of the year. As it is, it's just one of the great achievements in film history." There was also criticism regarding the Army of the Dead's appearance, rapidly ending the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

In February 2004, a few months after release, the film was voted as #8 on Empire's 100 Greatest Movies of All Time, compiled from readers' top 10 lists. This forced the magazine to abandon its policy of only allowing films being older than 12 months to be eligible. In 2007, Total Film named The Return of the King the third best film of the past decade (Total Film's publication time), behind The Matrix and Fight Club.

On 27 January 2004, the film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Make-up, Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing. On 29 February, the film won all the categories for which it was nominated, making it one of the most successful films in Academy Award history.

The film also won four Golden Globes (including Best Picture for Drama and Best Director), five BAFTAs, two MTV Movie Awards, two Grammy Awards, nine Saturn Awards, the New York Film Critics Circle award for Best Picture, the Nebula Award for Best Script, and the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form.

The film was nominated for the 10th Anniversary Edition of AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies.

The Cast

Noel Appleby as Everard Proudfoot
 Alexandra Astin as Elanor Gamgee
 Sean Astin as Sam
  John Bach as Madril
 Sean Bean as Boromir
 Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
 Orlando Bloom as Legolas
 Billy Boyd as Pippin
 Sadwyn Brophy as Eldarion
 Alistair Browning as Damrod
 Marton Csokas as Celeborn
  Bernard Hill as Theoden
 Ian Holm as Bilbo
 Bruce Hopkins as Gamling
 Ian Hughes as Irolas
 Lawrence Makoare as Witchking / Gothmog
 Ian McKellen as Gandalf
  Sarah McLeod as Rosie Cotton
 Maisy McLeod-Riera as Baby Gamgee
 Dominic Monaghan as Merry
 Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn
 John Noble as Denethor
 Paul Norell as King of the Dead
 Miranda Otto as Eowyn
 Bruce Phillips as Grimbold
  John Rhys-Davies as Gimli
  Thomas Robins as Deagol
 Andy Serkis as Gollum / Smeagol
 Harry Sinclair as Isildur
 Peter Tait as Shagrat
  Liv Tyler as Arwen
 Karl Urban as Eomer
 Stephen Ure as Gorbag
 Hugo Weaving as Elrond
 David Wenham as Faramir
 Elijah Wood as Frodo
  Sala Baker as Sauron