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

Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron's army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.

Director:

Peter Jackson

Writers:

J.R.R. Tolkien (novel), Fran Walsh (screenplay),

Stars:

Orlando Bloom, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen

Top 250 #9 | Won 11 Oscars. Another 119 wins & 73 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Noel Appleby	...	Everard Proudfoot
Alexandra Astin	...	Elanor Gamgee
Sean Astin	...	Sam
David Aston	...	Gondorian Soldier 3
John Bach	...	Madril
Sean Bean	...	Boromir
Cate Blanchett	...	Galadriel
Orlando Bloom	...	Legolas
Billy Boyd	...	Pippin
Sadwyn Brophy	...	Eldarion
Alistair Browning	...	Damrod
Marton Csokas	...	Celeborn
Richard Edge	...	Gondorian Soldier 1
Jason Fitch	...	Uruk 2
Bernard Hill	...	Theoden

Storyline

While Frodo & Sam continue to approach Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring, unaware of the path Gollum is leading them, the former Fellowship aid Rohan & Gondor in a great battle in the Pelennor Fields, Minas Tirith and the Black Gates as Sauron wages his last war against Middle-Earth.

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Plot Keywords:

ring | battle | king | middle earth | army of the dead | 

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Taglines:

This Christmas the journey ends.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and frightening images

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Country:

USA New Zealand

Language:

English Quenya Old English Sindarin

Release Date:

17 December 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Return of the King

Filming Locations:

Camperdown Studios, Camperdown Road, Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand

Box Office

Budget:

$94,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$6,128,577 (Japan) (13 February 2004)

Gross:

$377,019,252 (USA) (28 May 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, WingNut Films, The Saul Zaentz Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

201 min 251 min (extended edition) 263 min (Special Extended Blu-Ray Edition)

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES Dolby Digital EX SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the cast commentary, although Lawrence Makoare was the person in the Witch-King's costume, his voice was later performed by Andy Serkis (also playing Gollum).

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Goofs

In the ride of the Captains of the West and the army from Minas Tirith to the Black gate, Aragorn's hair is suddenly - and obviously - a different wig. The hair is longer, straighter, and the hairline is different. While it's conceivable that Aragorn might have cleaned up a little bit before he took charge of his new kingdom's army, his hair couldn't have grown that much, and his hairline shouldn't have changed.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Deagol: Smeagol, I've got one! I've got a fish, Smeag. Smeagol!
Smeagol: Pull it in. Go on. Go on. Go on. Pull it in.

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Crazy Credits

Peter Jackson's and Fran Walsh's children are listed in the credits as 'Cute Gondor children'. In the Fellowship of the Ring, they were 'Cute Hobbit children' and in The Two Towers, they were 'Cute Rohan children'.

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Connections

Referenced in National Geographic: Beyond the Movie - The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003)

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Soundtracks

"The Green Dragon"
Music by David Donaldson, David Long, Steve Roche (as Stephen Roche), and Janet Roddick
Lyrics by Philippa Boyens
Performed by Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan
Courtesy of Mana Music

User Reviews

A Brilliant Conclusion

As a movie watcher, I tend to become bored with the constant, overdone, overdrawn, underplayed, overdramatized performance and production quality of most Hollywood films. It's a trait that in recent years has sadly driven me away from most big budget American films. A decent idea will become mangled by the money making machine that is Hollywood, hoping to pump the most raw cash they can out of it before it drops dead in the street.

We all saw the catastophre of a failure that arose from the Matrix Franchise. Such immense hype and professed genius only made the failure all the more poignant for those of us that really wanted and expected more from the franchise.

That all being said, I must say that The Lord of the Rings is an amazingly powerful visual experience. Not even just a visual experience. Peter Jackson has crafted one of the finest written pieces of our era into THE quintessential epic. He supplements the brilliant storytelling of JRR Tolkien with one of the most awe-inspiring collection of films ever created.

The 7 hours of film that leads up to the Return of the King is only precursor though, when you sit and watch this film. It's just plain brilliance. Everything about the film is wonderful. The manner in which Jackson has arranged the scenes, detracting slightly from the original flow of the novel really helps to keep the suspense strong in all three story branches. The Tolkien humor is intact perfectly and the gallantry and just plain coolness of these heroes is plain amazing. (Check out Legolas in the BIG battle) It's all just too much for words.

If one were to gripe, and I suppose there will never be a film made that one cannot find a point at which to grip, it is painfully long running time here. I personally believe that this is the only way such a film could be made, true to the source material and completely engrossing, but I found myself more worried about the pain in my posterior than the emotional final minutes after 4 hours (including ads and previews) that I had spent in a cramped seat. As such, this will be all the better (at least for me) when it's release on DVD (can't wait for the extended...get to see the Sauroman scenes that they cut out).

As a film though, this is amazing. A true lasting legacy in story telling and now cinema. Bravo Mr. Jackson.