The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

2003 "There can be no triumph without loss. No victory without suffering. No freedom without sacrifice."
9| 3h21m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 17 December 2003 Released
Producted By: WingNut Films
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.lordoftherings.net
Synopsis

As armies mass for a final battle that will decide the fate of the world--and powerful, ancient forces of Light and Dark compete to determine the outcome--one member of the Fellowship of the Ring is revealed as the noble heir to the throne of the Kings of Men. Yet, the sole hope for triumph over evil lies with a brave hobbit, Frodo, who, accompanied by his loyal friend Sam and the hideous, wretched Gollum, ventures deep into the very dark heart of Mordor on his seemingly impossible quest to destroy the Ring of Power.​

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Reviews

Greenes Please don't spend money on this.
Helloturia I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.
Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.
oaliurrahman The best fantasy movie series ever. when i watch these movies, the lord of the rings and the hobbit movies, i am like entering into the fantasy world. watch these movies. it will worth
mc-voltron So if you're a fan of the books, you might have a tendency to overanalyze what to the casual viewers is a nice farewell to the magestic world of Tolkien. Wraps it all up nicely for those who fell in love with these characters.
Leray97 With the four hour conclusion that is The Return of the King, the Lord of the Rings trilogy comes to a close. When it comes to film franchises, this fantasy series easily takes the cake for being the best one out there. The visual effects aren't the best, nor is the acting, but the story makes for such an experience that is so easy to become emotionally invested in. Part of the success that the story achieves comes from its execution as the writing caters to the whimsical side of adventuring as well as the more darker themes that involve Sauron and the One Ring. Another aspect of the story's successful execution has to do with how much care is given into each of the characters. There's obviously one overarching plot that involves everyone, but that itself is not the sole focus of the story. In the end, the LOTR trilogy feels like a big journey due to the audience gradually learning more and more about all the relevant characters and their motives.With their long runtimes, each film in the trilogy takes its time to fully establish the setting and flesh out its characters, as they should for being epics. I honestly can't imagine watching the theatrical versions now, seeing as the extended versions put in the much needed additional time to develop secondary characters. Though the more I think about it, I'm not too sure exactly how much this particular film benefits from having an extra 30 minutes in its runtime. Where Fellowship of the Ring benefited from the extra minutes in world building and the extended version of Two Towers slightly faltered in its pacing, The Return of the King is already going to be charged with wrapping everything up so I don't know what scenes the filmmakers would have prioritized over others. Either way, the tone of this film is so fitting for this grand adventure that I won't think about it too much.There's a lot of closure in the film, the character arcs that have been developed throughout the three films all come to a close and I can safely say that every minute I spent watching these movies were worth it. I really enjoyed Aragorn's (Viggo Mortensen) arc; seeing him develop as a leader and a reliable person made him my favorite character overall. Besides Frodo and Sam, I think Aragorn also has the most screen time out of all the films.Anyone who reveres the LOTR trilogy for its masterful storytelling and world-building is right to do so. It's probably the only set of films to tell such a story in all the right ways. Experiencing this trilogy in the theaters must have been a life changing point in many people's lives; I'm sure that if I was part of the fandom back then, my love for movies would have grown much sooner.
archiewheeler Take your time to read this; I think you will find it useful.I watched ROTK while on a day-per-movie marathon of the LOTR trilogy. The only time I had come upon it before was having watched the fellowship at the age of 9; but MY GOD, was it worth going through.My favourite film before seeing this was The Shawshank Redemption. While I'm not a very critical person, Shawshank was a film in which I could see where it's cinematic excellence comes from. On the other hand, The Godfather was the film I most couldn't understand the love for; it seriously has not aged well, and I think my stance on it is the same as those of the critics who say this film has some serious critical issues. However, I still don't understand those people who like the first two but dislike this one; there is no doubt that it is the strongest one, even from a critical viewpoint; not a lot really happens in the first one; it follows linearly danger after danger, Balrog after the weird creature in the lake, and yet some people are saying that is the best. ROTK, however, has some epic fight sequences, amazing character development, and the most incredible climax scene I have ever watched. Those who are wondering about the title of this review: I noticed that most of the negative reviews were about the film being disloyal to the source material. Yes, I understand those peoples' motives and ideas, but I feel it is better to focus on what it is than what you believe it is meant to be. In my opinion the loyalty to the books doesn't affect the quality greatly if at all, and sometimes the changes are for the better, something I can apply to How to Train Your Dragon. However, a few book-to-film changes DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD DEMAIN YOUR RATING DOWN TO A ONE. This is what I have seen many reviews doing, and I just don't see the rationale behind it.All I can say to to summarise the likability is that it seems split from a critical viewpoint, sometimes good, sometimes bad; but for a simple moviegoer who is not too bothered about book-to-film changes, this is the cinematic masterpiece it deserves to be called.