Le Seigneur des anneaux : Le Retour du roi
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.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.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.
- Won 11 Oscars
- 215 wins & 124 nominations total
- Elanor Gamgee
- (as Alexandra Astin)
Summary
Featured reviews
My only slight disappointment is the ending, it does feel overlong and bloated for me, almost as if there was more than one ending filmed. That said, what does make the ending at least watchable for me is the way it is shot, the marvellous score and the performance of Gollum.
Despite this minor discrepancy, Return of the King is extremely good and in my view one of the better Best Picture winners last decade. Peter Jackson's direction is very impressive here, and the scope is massive and just dazzling to watch. All three films of the trilogy are very well made, but Return of the King defines the term epic. The cinematography is mind-blowing, the scenery is superb, the costumes and make-up are well tailored, the effects are superb and don't distract too much and the lighting is authentic.
The score is phenomenal. Fellowship of the Ring had some ethereal, rousing, haunting and charming themes, whereas Two Towers was somewhat darker and more complex. Return of the King merges these together and the result is a perfect mixture of charm, darkness, etherality and complexity. The story is compelling with themes of friendship, strength and loyalty, the screenplay is well-written and literate and while the film is very long the three hours or so fly by seamlessly. The characters are engaging, Aragorn is even more interesting here than he is in the previous films while Gollum continues to steal every scene he appears in.
The acting is very good. Orlando Bloom(who I can find dashing yet uncharismatic and bland) and John Rhys-Davies are given less to do but do carry their parts very well, and Elijah Wood is likable enough. Sean Astin captures Sam perfectly and provides the heart of the picture, and Viggo Mortenssen is at his charismatic best here. Ian McKellen is perfectly cast, while the design of Gollum is still superb and Andy Serkis is equally phenomenal. I was slightly disappointed by the lack of any Sarauman, but I was more than I was satisfied with the final result.
All in all, an outstanding entry to a great trilogy. 10/10 Bethany Cox
"Return of the King" is 4 hours of payoff, a third act in a gigantic epic rather than a mere film of its own. As such it is intensely dramatic and dynamic and you can very much sense that though peter Jackson spared no effort on the previous episodes, this is clearly his favorite. the film floats by at a thunderous pace, taking us through unforgettable moments such as the battle of Minas Tirith itself, a marvel of seamless animation and epic film-making, it demands to be seen, as it has too many jaw-dropping moments to choose from. The quieter character moments keep gaining in potency and the full weight of the stakes and their heartbreaking consequences is never in doubt.
The cast of these films have played their parts to perfection and again Jackson deserves overall credit for choosing actors that so perfectly match Tlolkien's creations: Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee are their own usually excellent selves, and the hobbits remain endearing, but of all the uniformly great cast, the true standouts are Viggo Mortensen and David Wenham as the tragic Faramir, whose relationship with his brutish father is the most traumatic of the film. Jackson pushes them even further by having them sing at a few key moments (a practice employed to powerful effect by Tolkien in the books), a daring undertaking that works wonders. And though he may offer one ending too many, he does have the decency to show off each surviving character with the appropriate screen time and respect.
Now that the trilogy is complete, it can be viewed as one big film, as it should be. After 8 years, Jackson has done the impossible: he has taken Tolkien's huge legend and made films that stand on their own and have revolutionized film-making, setting the new benchmark for cinematic epics. Changes have been made to Tolkien's source novels, but they make for better, more fluid films, more faithful in spirit to Tolkien's myth than anyone had the right to hope for.
A masterpiece, whether as part of a bigger whole or on its own. Well deserving of all the high praise thrown at it, and then some...
Oscars Best Picture Winners, Ranked
Oscars Best Picture Winners, Ranked
Did you know
- TriviaTo get enough extras for the Battle at the Black Gate, a few hundred members of the New Zealand Army were brought in. They apparently were so enthusiastic during the battle scenes that they kept breaking the wooden swords and spears they were given.
- GoofsWhen Denethor catches fire, he is in the Hallows of Minas Tirith, yet he plummets off the prow of the city, which is "... about a mile..." away. Peter Jackson admitted this in the DVD commentary.
- Quotes
Aragorn: Hold your ground, hold your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you *stand, Men of the West!*
- Crazy creditsAt the end of the credits, a very long list of names from the Lord of the Rings Fan Club whom the authors want to thank to is displayed. The name of Elijah Wood is in that list.
- Alternate versionsThere are four versions available. Runtimes are: 1) "3h 21m (201 min)"--the original theatrical release; 2) "4h 23m (263 min) (Blu-Ray Extended Edition)"; 3) "4h 14m (254 min) (Special DVD Extended Edition)"; 4) "3h 12m (192 min) (DVD Widescreen Edition)".
- ConnectionsEdited from Le Seigneur des anneaux : La Communauté de l'anneau (2001)
- SoundtracksInto the West
Words and Music by Howard Shore, Fran Walsh, and Annie Lennox
Performed by Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox appears courtesy of BMG Ariola Munchen GmbH
- How long is The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- El señor de los anillos: El retorno del rey
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $94,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $381,878,219
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $72,629,713
- Dec 21, 2003
- Gross worldwide
- $1,138,585,547
- Runtime3 hours 21 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1