The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003
epic fantasy-
drama film directed by
Peter Jackson that is based on the
second and
third volumes of
J. R. R. Tolkien's
The Lord of the Rings. It is the concluding film in
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, following
The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and
The Two Towers (2002).
As
Sauron launches the final stages of his conquest of
Middle-earth,
Gandalf the Wizard, and
Théoden King of
Rohan rally their forces to help defend
Gondor's capital
Minas Tirith from the looming threat.
Aragorn finally claims the throne of Gondor and summons an army of ghosts to help him defeat Sauron. Ultimately, even with full strength of arms, they realise they cannot win; so it comes down to the
Hobbits,
Frodo and
Sam, to bear the burden of the Ring and deal with the treachery of
Gollum. After a long journey they finally arrive in the dangerous lands of Mordor, seeking to destroy the
One Ring in the place it was created, the volcanic fires of
Mount Doom.
Released on 17 December 2003,
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King received rave reviews
[2] and became one of the greatest critical and box-office successes of all time, becoming the highest grossing film from
New Line Cinema, as well as the biggest financial success for
Time Warner in general. Notably, it
won all eleven Academy Awards for which it was nominated, an Oscar record, and tied for largest number of awards won with
Ben-Hur and
Titanic. It also won the Academy Award for
Best Picture, the first and only time a fantasy film has done so.
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