The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Name: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Director: Peter Jackson
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Action
Released: 2003-12-17
Rating: 8.8

December 17, 2003· 3h 21m

Adventure Fantasy Action

Directed by

Peter Jackson

Cast

Elijah Wood Ian McKellen Viggo Mortensen Sean Astin Andy Serkis Dominic Monaghan +69 more ↓

Cinemagraphs Score8.8

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.

Audience Sentiment

Overall8.8

1 — Hated it5 — Neutral10 — Masterpiece

Critics

8+ Great

6-8 Good

<6 Poor

21 reviews·Last updated 12d ago

Peak Moment

Mount Doom and the ring's destruction

10.0at 2h 29m

Lowest Moment

Denethor's madness

7.0at 1h 23m

Biggest Swing

The massive leap from Denethor's dragging subplot (7.0) to the universally acclaimed Battle of Pelennor Fields opening (10.0), representing a 3-point surge as the film shifted from character drama to epic spectacle

Return of the King delivers an overwhelmingly triumphant conclusion to the trilogy, with reviewers consistently praising the epic battle sequences, emotional character resolutions, and visual spectacle as cinematic perfection. While some found certain subplot focus and the extended ending problematic, the Mount Doom climax and Pelennor Fields battle were universally hailed as transcendent filmmaking.

21 reviews analyzed|Sources: Imdb, Tmdb