The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Peter Jackson directed the epic high fantasy adventure picture The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003. Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Jackson wrote the screenplay. It is based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s 1955 novel The Return of the King, which is the third volume of The Lord of the Rings.
The Return of the King was shot and edited entirely in Jackson’s home New Zealand, concurrently with the previous two parts of the trilogy, and was produced and distributed by the American studio New Line Cinema. After making its debut on December 1, 2003, at Wellington’s Embassy Theatre, it was released on December 17, 2003, in the United States, and on December 18, 2003, in New Zealand.
Praising the visual effects, performances, action sequences, direction, screenplay, musical score, costume design, emotional depth, scope, and story, critics and viewers alike hailed the movie as a landmark in the fantasy film genre and a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. At the time of its release, it brought in over $1.1 billion in worldwide box office revenue, making it the highest-grossing movie of 2003, the second-highest-grossing movie of all time, and the highest-grossing movie ever produced by New Line Cinema.
The Return of the King, like the other two movies in the trilogy, is regarded by many as one of the best and most important movies ever filmed. Many accolades were bestowed upon the movie; at the 76th Academy Awards, it won every one of the eleven categories for which it was nominated, including Best Picture, making history as the first fantasy picture to win the prize and tying Titanic (1997 and 1959) for the most victories. After the original Star Wars trilogy, it also became the second film series whose installments have all been awarded Best Visual Effects.
Plot of The Movie
While fishing with his cousin Déagol, the hobbit Sméagol finds the One Ring in the river. The Ring seduces Sméagol’s psyche, and as a result, he murders his cousin. He withdraws into the Misty Mountains and takes on the name Gollum after becoming more and more emotionally and physically ruined.
Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and King Théoden of Rohan are led by Gandalf to Isengard during the War of the Ring centuries later, where they meet up with Merry and Pippin. After obtaining Saruman’s palantír, Gandalf brings the troop back to Edoras to commemorate their triumph at Helm’s Deep.[a] Pippin sees Sauron and a burning tree when he peers into the palantír. After determining that the enemy intended to attack Gondor’s capital, Minas Tirith, Gandalf rode there to alert Denethor, Gondor’s unscrupulous steward. Accompanying him is Pippin, who swears allegiance to Denethor, whose deceased heir Boromir had saved his life;[b] at Gandalf’s command, Pippin sets off the beacons, signaling for assistance from Rohan.
Sam and Frodo, who are traveling towards Mordor with the Ring, don’t know that their new guide, Gollum, is going to turn on them and steal the Ring for himself. The three watch as the Witch-king of Angmar, ruler of the nine Nazgûl, leads his army of Orcs toward Gondor. Gollum sets up a plot to accuse Sam of using food supplies and wanting the Ring; as the Ring’s power grows, Frodo becomes duped and tells Sam to return home. Next, Gollum deceives Frodo into entering the enormous spider Shelob’s lair.
After a struggle that ends with Gollum falling over a chasm, Frodo barely escapes and confronts him. After finding, immobilizing, and binding Frodo, Shelob is hurt and forced to flee by a reappearing Sam, who steals the Ring in grief over Frodo’s seeming demise. When a band of Orcs kidnaps Frodo, Sam realizes his error, but he still manages to save him while the Orcs are at war with one another. The hobbits are now inside Mordor and moving toward their goal, Mount Doom.
Elrond informs Aragorn that Arwen is dying because she has refused to leave Middle-earth as King Théoden gathers his army. Elrond bestows Andúril upon Aragorn, which he reforged from the shards of King Elendil’s sword Narsil, and impels him to swear allegiance to the kingdom of Gondor, of which he is the heir. Aragorn travels the Paths of the Dead with Legolas and Gimli, promising to free the ghosts there from their curse if they assist Gondor.
In the meantime, Faramir, who was earlier overpowered and forced to return to Minas Tirith by the Witch-king, sustains serious injuries in a suicide attack; convinced his son is dead, Denethor spirals into insanity. As Gandalf rallies the defenders, the vast army of Orcs invades the city. Pippin warns Gandalf of Denethor’s plan to burn himself and Faramir on a pyre, and they save Faramir. Burning and in excruciating pain, Denethor leaps to his death.
After arriving, Théoden rallies his army to fight the Orcs. In the combat that follows, Théoden is gravely wounded by the Witch-king, despite their initial victory against the Orcs, who are destroyed by the Oliphaunt-riding Haradrim. Merry assists Théoden’s niece Éowyn in killing the Witch-king. In his niece’s arms, Théoden passes away. After defeating Sauron’s army, Aragorn then shows up with his Army of the Dead. The Dead are set free from their curse once they complete their commitment. In order to divert Sauron from Frodo, who is now very weak, and Sam, Aragorn makes the decision to march on Mordor. All of Sauron’s remaining forces march to meet Aragorn’s distraction.
They are attacked by Gollum, who survived his previous fall, but Frodo makes it inside the mountain. There, he gives in to the force of the Ring and places it on his finger, but Gollum is able to bite off his finger and take it back, starting a fight between them before they fall off the precipice. As Gollum falls into the lava and takes the ring with him, finally defeating Sauron, Frodo is able to grab on and is hauled up by Sam. Frodo and Sam barely escape as Aragorn’s army triumphs over its foes, the realms of Mordor crumble into the soil, and Mount Doom erupts.
With the aid of eagles, Gandalf saves the hobbits, and the remaining members of the Fellowship are joyfully reunited in Minas Tirith. After becoming King of Gondor, Aragorn weds Arwen. Sam marries Rosie Cotton when the Hobbits get back to the Shire. Four years later, along with his uncle Bilbo, Gandalf, and the Elves, Frodo leaves Middle-earth for the Undying Lands, still tormented by the pain of the wound he sustained at the hands of the Witch-king. The Red Book of Westmarch, which chronicles their exploits, is what he leaves Sam. When Sam gets back to the Shire, he gives Rosie and the kids hugs.
