Search - The Lord Of the Rings: The Return of the King [Fullscreen]

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King brings Peter Jackson's mammoth adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic to a close in suitably epic fashion. Instead of starting just where the previous film left off, however, it goes far back in time to the moment the tormented creature Gollum first came to possess the One Ring. In this flashback, actor Andy Serkis (who voiced Gollum and performed his movements onset prior to the final CGI effects) finally gets to appear onscreen, portraying Gollum's former self, Sméagol. This disturbing scene serves as a potent reminder that the Ring seeks to corrupt even the well-intentioned Frodo (Elijah Wood), who is increasingly struggling with the dark power of the Ring himself. Thus, the film returns to the present, following Frodo, Sam (Sean Astin), and Gollum as they journey ever closer to the foreboding land of Mordor. They pass by the terrifying dark city of Minas Morgul, watching as the dreadful army of the Witch King sets out for the human strongholds in Gondor, and move on to the rocky stairs to Cirith Ungol, where an even darker enemy lies in wait. Meanwhile, the rest of the Fellowship reunites in Rohan, having defeated the wizard Saruman on two different fronts, at Helm's Deep and Isengard. They are not together for long, though, since the hobbit Pippin (Billy Boyd) gets into trouble, making it necessary for him and Gandalf (Ian McKellen) to hastily depart for Minas Tirith, capital of Gondor. Once there, they find the steward of Gondor, Denethor (John Noble), in an unstable mental state and the city preparing for battle against the amassing forces of Sauron. Denethor unwisely sends his only remaining son, Faramir (David Wenham), back into bloody battle to prove himself. He returns nearly dead, sending Denethor over the edge of sanity.

In another realm, elf Arwen (Liv Tyler) begins her journey to immortal life in the Grey Havens, on her way to leave Middle-earth -- and Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) -- forever, but has a vision that causes her to once again reconsider her decision. Back in Rohan, the men are preparing to ride to Gondor's aide. Éowyn (Miranda Otto) desperately wants to join the men in battle, but her uncle, King Théoden (Bernard Hill), orders her to stay and defend Rohan if necessary. The hobbit Merry (Dominic Monaghan) also desires to ride with the men, but is denied due to his small size and inexperience. Aragorn is met there by the elf Elrond (Hugo Weaving), who brings him the re-forged Sword that was Broken (in the ancient battle with Sauron) and urges him to take a different route to Gondor. Heeding Elrond's advice, Aragorn, along with elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), takes a cavernous path through the mountains, where they meet ghoulish ghosts who betrayed Aragorn's ancestors and are doomed to eternal unrest unless they fulfill their broken oaths by aiding him. All but Frodo, Sam, and Gollum will meet on the massive battlefield of the Pelennor before the gates of Minas Tirith. The former three instead engage in a battle of wills between each other and the One Ring as they head toward the fires of Mount Doom to destroy it. Released in December 2003, The Return of the King topped even its massively successful trilogy predecessors at the box office, and went on to garner a whopping 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture -- winning in all the categories in which it was nominated and tying the record of total awards won with Ben-Hur and Titanic. ~ Dana Rowader, All Movie Guide

Elijah Wood - Frodo Baggins
Ian McKellen - Gandalf
Viggo Mortensen - Aragorn
Sean Astin - Samwise Gamgee
Orlando Bloom - Legolas

2003	Best Director (winner)	San Francisco Film Critics Circle	Peter Jackson
2003	Best Director (winner)	Golden Globe	Peter Jackson
2003	Best Score (winner)	Golden Globe	Howard Shore
2003	Best Song (winner)	Golden Globe	Howard Shore
2003	Best Song (winner)	Golden Globe	Fran Walsh
2003	Best Song (winner)	Golden Globe	Annie Lennox
2003	Best Director (Runner-up) (winner)	National Society of Film Critics	Peter Jackson
2003	Best Director (winner)	Directors Guild of America	Peter Jackson
2003	Best Director (winner)	Los Angeles Film Critics Association	Peter Jackson
2003	Producer of the Year (nominee)	Producers Guild of America	Barrie M. Osborne
2003	Producer of the Year (nominee)	Producers Guild of America	Peter Jackson
2003	Producer of the Year (nominee)	Producers Guild of America	Fran Walsh
2003	Best Adapted Screenplay (nominee)	Writers Guild of America	Fran Walsh
2003	Best Adapted Screenplay (nominee)	Writers Guild of America	Philippa Boyens
2003	Best Adapted Screenplay (nominee)	Writers Guild of America	Peter Jackson
2003	Best Art Direction (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Grant Major
2003	Best Art Direction (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Dan Hennah
2003	Best Art Direction (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Alan Lee
2003	Best Costume Design (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Ngila Dickson
2003	Best Costume Design (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Richard Taylor
2003	Best Director (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Peter Jackson
2003	Best Editing (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Jamie Selkirk
2003	Best Makeup (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Richard Taylor
2003	Best Makeup (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Peter King
2003	Best Score (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Howard Shore
2003	Best Song (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Howard Shore
2003	Best Song (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Fran Walsh
2003	Best Song (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Annie Lennox
2003	Best Picture (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Barrie M. Osborne
2003	Best Sound (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Christopher Boyes
2003	Best Sound (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Michael Semanick
2003	Best Sound (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Michael Hedges
2003	Best Sound (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Hammond Peek
2003	Best Visual Effects (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Jim Rygiel
2003	Best Visual Effects (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Joe Letteri
2003	Best Visual Effects (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Randall William Cook
2003	Best Visual Effects (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Alex Funke
2003	Best Adapted Screenplay (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Fran Walsh
2003	Best Adapted Screenplay (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Philippa Boyens
2003	Best Adapted Screenplay (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Peter Jackson
2003	Best Director (winner)	Toronto Film Critics Association	Peter Jackson
2003	Best Director (winner)	Chicago Film Critics Association	Peter Jackson
2003	Best Screenplay (nominee)	Chicago Film Critics Association	Fran Walsh
2003	Best Screenplay (nominee)	Chicago Film Critics Association	Philippa Boyens
2003	Best Screenplay (nominee)	Chicago Film Critics Association	Peter Jackson
2003	Best Original Score (winner)	Chicago Film Critics Association	Howard Shore
2003	Best Cinematography (nominee)	Chicago Film Critics Association	Andrew Lesnie
2003	Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pic (nominee)	Chicago Film Critics Association	Sean Astin
2003	Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pic (nominee)	Chicago Film Critics Association	Andy Serkis
2003	Best Cinematography (nominee)	American Society of Cinematographers	Andrew Lesnie
2003	Best Picture (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Peter Jackson
2003	Best Picture (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Fran Walsh

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King makes its way to DVD in this two-disc edition of the theatrical cut of the film thanks to New Line Cinema. Just as both of its two-disc predecessors, this initial release presents the movie along with a small amount of extras to tide fans over until the archives are opened for the =Special Extended Edition, coming later in 2004. As usual, the picture and sound presentation is astounding, with a crisp full-screen image (also available in the recommended widescreen version) and both a Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround track and a 2.0 Surround Sound audio option ready to bowl you over with their layers of clarity -- for proof, skip right to Chapter 37 and the Battle of Pelennor Fields to really understand the time and effort that was put into this transfer. As far as extras go, this edition carries on the trend of including all of the two- to four-minute lordoftherings.net featurettes (five in total), along with other material that is mostly exclusive to this release. First off, there's "The Quest Fulfilled: A Director's Vision" and "A Filmmaker's Journey: Making Return of the King" featurettes, both of which seem to include many of the same interview segments and stories as not only each other, but also as all of the releases leading up to this one. Needless to say, thanks to the cheesy voice-over work by the narrator and the overlapping content, these two seem disappointing, but end up in the same ballpark as the two-disc =Two Towers' Starz/Encore specials or the WB making-of. Those who have purchased the National Geographic special on the third film will be equally saddened by its inclusion here, just one year after it was initially released to DVD in 2003.

One place where this edition does stand out is in its inclusion of both original theatrical trailers and a whopping 13 TV spots! Exclusive to this disc is the brand new six-and-a-half-minute Lord of the Rings Trilogy super-trailer documenting the story in a recap fashion that is almost more exhausting than any of the actual films, though neat nonetheless. Also included is a trailer for Electronic Arts' The Lord of the Rings video games, including the latest one, The Battle for Middle Earth. It's strange that New Line didn't include a trailer for the =Extended Edition, since such trailers were on both of the last two-disc releases (for their corresponding extended versions). In fact, that was reason enough to buy the initial disc for many fans, so this really was a misstep on New Line's part for not including it. Still, for the stellar presentation of the theatrical film alone, this release is worth it for those looking to own a piece of history -- others might want to bide their time until the mammoth set hits the shelves. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

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