The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a highly unusual choice for Best Picture. That’s not to say it isn’t most deserving. For starters, it’s the first time a third film in a series picked up the top award. It’s also the first fantasy ever to get the Oscar, and it’s the first movie to be nominated for 11 Academy Awards and win all of them, tying it with Ben-Hur and Titanic for the most wins in history. And, as of this post, it is also the last time the highest-grossing movie of the year won Best Picture.
The Return of the King is not a film that stands on its own. Watching it now without viewing its predecessors (The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, both nominated for Best Picture as well), I realize more than ever how reliant they are upon each other. The three films were shot simultaneously with the final installment lauded as best by critics and fans alike. All told, this trilogy was nominated for 30 Oscars and won 17 of them. For most people, The Return of the King represents the pinnacle of epic, fantasy storytelling on the big screen. For others, it celebrates the trio as a whole and never would have won 11 Oscars on individual merit. It was the Academy’s chance to recognize the achievements of this brilliant “miniseries” in its last chapter.
The plot is a fairly simple one, but the telling of the tale is where the magic lies. It’s in the meticulous details of a well-ordered mythology, the incredible journey, the unforgettable characters, and the outstanding cinematic presentation. As a child, I read The Hobbit when I was in fifth grade. I enjoyed it quite a lot, especially the Hildebrandt illustrations from an accompanying calendar, but somehow I never got around to reading The Lord of the Rings. Over the decades, I had enough conversations with friends and acquaintances to get the gist of the story, but I went into these films with fresh eyes and almost no preconceptions. I will say, upon my first viewing of The Fellowship of the Ring during its theatrical release, I felt a bit lost at times. So many fictional names for its people, places, and things poured out that I began to think I was watching a foreign-language movie. I couldn’t tell Sauron from Saruman or Arwen from Aragorn. A character would often utter a sentence with four or five made-up words along the way—and it was enough to make my eyes cross. Entire languages had been invented by author J. R. R. Tolkien for this and other works of his. So, with repeated screenings at home, I decided to enable the English subtitles. It was a great help. At least I could see proper nouns with capitalization and spelling, which allowed me to commit them to memory. For this reason, I can understand why some have never taken to the books or films. It’s a bit of work to absorb Middle-earth and digest it as a complete realm, despite the fairly simple plot, as I mentioned.
The plot in question is a quest to deliver the most powerful, magic ring in existence to a volcano called Mount Doom, located in the desolate land of Mordor. It is there that this evil ring was originally forged, and it’s the only place where it can be destroyed. The ring was first owned by the dark lord Sauron, but during a great battle with men and elves, his finger (with the ring on it) was severed by Isildur, the human king of Gondor. Without his “one ring to rule them all,” Sauron returned to spirit form, where he awaits and plots his reunion with the ring and a restoration of his power. Isildur was also corrupted by possessing the ring. After his demise, it was lost in a river for 2,500 years until it was recovered by Gollum, a hobbit who was driven mad by his ownership. After 500 years, Gollum lost the ring as well. Then it was retrieved by another hobbit named Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm), and it’s Bilbo’s tale that is told in The Hobbit, which serves as a prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
With the trilogy, Bilbo passes the ring to his nephew Frodo (Elijah Wood), who is the protagonist of this story for the duration. It’s because of Frodo’s simple, unassuming nature and kind heart that he is an ideal candidate to carry the ring to Mount Doom for its destruction. He is the least likely to be corrupted by its immense power. Frodo is mentored by his longtime friend, the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen). Their journey begins in the first movie by forming a fellowship consisting of hobbits, elves, dwarfs, Gandalf, Frodo, and a human named Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), who is Isildur’s heir and the rightful King of Gondor.
Great battles are waged and won against Orcs and Uruk-hai. Frodo is stabbed by the leader of the Nazgûl, known as the Witch-king. Aragorn is betrothed to an elf named Arwen (Liv Tyler). Gandalf dies after confronting a Balrog, only to be resurrected as “Gandalf the White” for the remainder of the quest. The third film, The Return of the King, assumes you know all of this already, along with many other character arcs and plot points.
It should be noted that I’m watching the Extended Edition now, which I have preferred for all three films ever since they were released. They enhance the narrative and deepen the dramatic impact throughout. For example, the primary adversaries from the second film are the wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee) and the slimy Wormtongue (Brad Douriff). The conclusion of The Two Towers offers a watery defeat at Saruman’s tower in Isengard, but we never see what becomes of the evil duo. The third film opens with a grisly prologue showing how Gollum (Andy Serkis) came to own the ring. Then we’re back in Isengard, post-battle, without a clear or satisfactory resolution to the duo’s demise from The Two Towers. With the Extended Edition, we discover that Wormtongue betrays, stabs, and kills Saruman atop the tower before he is struck down by a steadfast arrow from the elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom).
The characters are well-drawn with notable performances from everyone, and the actors inhabit this extraordinary world as fully realized denizens. They stay with me long after I take the journey with them in repeated screenings. Elijah Wood (Frodo) and Sean Astin (Sam) are the heart and soul of this last installment, but everyone has moments to shine. Ian McKellen received the only acting nomination in the series for The Fellowship of the Ring, and his Gandalf is iconic. Viggo Mortensen and Liv Tyler are strong and beautiful as the romantic duo. Hobbit buddies Billy Boyd (Pippin) and Dominic Monaghan (Merry) garner most of the laughs, and while they live for earthly pleasures and idle relaxation, they manage to be steadfast and appealing allies throughout. John Rhys-Davies as the dwarf Gimli and Orlando Bloom as the elf Legolas overcome prejudices toward each other’s species to unite and face the many battles head-on.
The Return of the King is a story painted with broad strokes of heroes and villains, good and evil, myths and legends … culminating in this final, glorious chapter. It’s a multi-dimensional masterpiece with breathtaking scenery and dazzling sets, costumes, props, visual effects, sound effects, and makeup, plus a magnificent music score—a miraculous undertaking by director Peter Jackson that pushes the boundaries of imagination. I must admit I’m thrilled that after 76 years of awards, the Academy finally selected a fantasy, and it’s a great choice to have that distinction.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Director | Peter Jackson |
Primary Cast | Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Bernard Hill, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Liv Tyler, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Karl Urban, John Noble, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee (Extended Edition), Brad Douriff (Extended Edition) |
Familiar Faces | Bernard Hill from Gandhi and Titanic, Ian Holm from Chariots of Fire, Christopher Lee (Extended Edition) from Hamlet, Brad Douriff (Extended Edition) from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest |
Firsts | First fantasy film to win Best Picture, first instance of a third film in a series to win Best Picture, first movie to be nominated for 11 Oscars and win all of them |
Total Wins | 11 (Picture, Director, Screenplay: Adapted, Art Direction, Costumes, Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects, Makeup, Score, Song: “Into the West”) |
Total Nominations | 11 (Picture, Director, Screenplay: Adapted, Art Direction, Costumes, Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects, Makeup, Score, Song: “Into the West”) |
Viewing Format | Blu-ray Disc |
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