Mc-Lord of the Rings-Return of the King (2003)

"An epic success and a history-making production that finishes with a masterfully entertaining final installment.  David Hunter, The Hollywood Reporter
"...concludes the Lord of the Rings trilogy with a burst of smoky grandeur.  J. Hoberman, The Village Voice
"Visually one of the most amazing achievements ever captured on film.  Jeffrey Lyons, WNBC
"...Jackson's masterwork is passionate and literate, detailed and expansive, and it's conceived with a risk-taking flair...  Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
"It rises, all on its own, to the realm of masterwork.  Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun
"...one of the most ambitious and magnificent undertakings in the 90-year history of the feature film.  Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
"...pops your eyes, excites your senses and brings you in as close as a whisper for scenes of startling emotion.  Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Editor's Note THE RETURN OF THE KING, the third and final film in Peter Jackson's THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, finds Middle-earth on the cusp of great change. Weary hobbits Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) venture further into the dark realm of Mordor, guided by the increasingly desperate Gollum (Andy Serkis), the two-faced former owner of the Ring that Frodo must destroy in the fires of Mount Doom. Meanwhile Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) contend with the deranged ruler Denethor (John Noble) at the once-mighty city of Minas Tirith, as Merry (Dominic Monaghan) joins Éowyn (Miranda Otto) and the Riders of Rohan to hold back the forces of Sauron. Amidst the chaos, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) must rise to his destiny, aided by Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) in assembling allies for a massive battle that will decide the fate of Middle-earth. With RETURN, Jackson brings J.R.R. Tolkien's world-renowned tale to a stunning conclusion. As with THE TWO TOWERS, the director deftly weaves various storylines together in one remarkable scene after another. Spectacular visuals complement Jackson's sharp focus on the characters and their emotional battles. While the special effects help to create huge battles and frightening creatures on a previously unseen scale, they never outshine the excellent ensemble of actors who bring the heart of the story home. A truly astounding work of filmmaking, THE RETURN OF THE KING skillfully concludes one of the greatest trilogies in cinema history.

	Andy Serkis
	Cate Blanchett
	Elijah Wood
	Hugo Weaving
	Ian Holm
	Ian McKellen
	Karl Urban
	Liv Tyler
	Orlando Bloom
	Sean Astin
	Sean Bean
	Viggo Mortensen
	Andrew Lesnie - Cinematographer
	Barrie M. Osborne - Producer
	Fran Walsh, et. al. - Screenplay
	Grant Major - Production Designer
	Harvey Weinstein - Executive Producer
	Howard Shore - Original Music By
	J.R.R. Tolkien - Based On Novel By
	Jamie Selkirk - Editor
	Peter Jackson - Director
	Philip Ivey, et. al. - Art Director

Rolling Stone
"...Peter Jackson has created the mack daddy of all movie fantasies, and RETURN OF THE KING brings the film version of Tolkien's trilogy to a combustibly exciting close..." 12/25/2003 p.116

Entertainment Weekly
"...The conclusion of Peter Jackson's masterwork is passionate and literate, detailed and expansive..." 12/19/2003 p.51

New York Times
"[K]ING is a meticulous and prodigious vision made by a director who was not hamstrung by heavy use of computer special-effects imagery." 12/16/2003 p.E1

Los Angeles Times
"As a model for how to bring substance, authenticity and insight to the biggest of adventure yarns, this trilogy will not soon, if ever, find its equal." 12/16/2003 p.C1

USA Today
"[T]he third film propels the work into the stratosphere of classic movies. Key characters are enhanced, new civilizations visited and battles fought more intensely, even as feelings and motivations are plumbed more deeply and movingly." 12/19/2003 p.7E

Chicago Sun-Times
"RETURN OF THE KING dispatches its characters to their destinies with a grand and eloquent confidence. This is the best of the three..." 12/17/2003 p.74

ReelViews 10 of 10
One could be forgiven for initially approaching The Return of the King with a little trepidation. As good as the first two films, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, are...movie history is littered with occasions when trilogy conclusions have crashed and burned. Return of the Jedi. Godfather III. The Matrix Revolutions. And so on... Yet, with The Return of the King, Jackson has done more than just bucked the trend. Not only is this motion picture an entirely worthy conclusion to the landmark trilogy, but it's better than its predecessors. Somehow, Jackson has managed to synthesize what worked in The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, while siphoning off the less successful elements. The result is amazing. Taken as a whole, there is nothing out there today that can come close to comparing to The Lord of the Rings...The Lord of the Rings will go down in cinematic lore as a milestone. It has legitimatized fantasy like no other production and has shown that it is possible for studio executives to realize huge gains when taking huge risks...History will show the importance of The Lord of the Rings. The present illustrates its broad appeal and undeniable critical and commercial success. - James Berardinelli

Reel.com 10 of 10
It's official: director Peter Jackson has pulled off the cinematic equivalent of a miracle with The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the last and indisputably best film in his epic adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic fantasy trilogy. This sweeping and marvelously entertaining adventure is the work of a prodigiously gifted filmmaker operating at the very top of his creative powers. There are moments of truly jaw-dropping spectacle in LOTR: The Return of the King, but the film's astonishing visuals never overwhelm the characters or the densely plotted narrative. A beautifully sustained model of escapist filmmaking with nary a dull patch in sight, LOTR: The Return of the King towers over the other Yuletide releases vying for Oscar consideration...Although LOTR: The Return of the King is a technical marvel, it is the film's literate screenplay and finely developed characters that elevate LOTR: The Return of the King above other fantasy films...As the voice of the tortured Gollum, Andy Serkis (24 Hour Party People) nearly steals the movie. Astin (Rudy) makes for a brave and steadfast sidekick to Wood, and Mortensen cuts a properly heroic figure as the man who would be king. - Tim Knight