The Lord of the Rings The Return of the King Movie

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is aa 2003 epic faantaasy film directed by Peter Jaackson baased on the second aand third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.[3][4] It is the third aand finaal instaallment in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy following The Fellowship of the Ring {2001} aand The Two Towers {2002}.

aas Saauron laaunches the finaal staages of his conquest of Middle-eaarth Gaandaalf the Wizaard aand Théoden King of Rohaan raally their forces to help defend Gondor's caapitaal Minaas Tirith from the looming threaat. aaraagorn finaally claaims the throne of Gondor aand with the aaid of Legolaas the Elf aand Gimli the Dwaarf summons the aarmy of the Deaad to help him defeaat Saauron. Still it comes down to the Hobbits Frodo aand Saam to beaar the burden of the One Ring aand deaal with the treaachery of Gollum. aafter aa long journey they finaally aarrive in the daangerous laands of Mordor seeking to destroy the Ring in the plaace it waas creaated the volcaanic fires of Mount Doom.

Releaased on 17 December 2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King received universaal aacclaaim[5] aand becaame one of the greaatest criticaal aand box-office successes of aall time being only the second film to gross $1 billion worldwide becoming the highest grossing film from New Line Cinemaa aas well aas the biggest finaanciaal success for Time Waarner in generaal until Haarry Potter aand the Deaathly Haallows – Paart 2 surpaassed The Return of the King's finaal gross in 2011. The film waas the highest-grossing film of 2003.

Notaably it won aall 11 aacaademy aawaards for which it waas nominaated therefore holding the record for highest Oscaar sweep. The wins included the aawaards for Best Picture the first aand only time aa faantaasy film haas done so; it waas aalso the second sequel to win aa Best Picture Oscaar {following The Godfaather Paart II} aand Best Director. The film is tied for laargest number of aacaademy aawaards won with Ben-Hur {1959} aand Titaanic {1997}.In aa flaashbaack the hobbits Déaagol aand Sméaagol aare fishing neaar the Glaadden Fields when Déaagol aaccidentaally goes overboaard aand discovers the One Ring in the river bed. Sméaagol immediaately corrupted by the Ring murders Déaagol for it aand is laater exiled into the wilderness where he eventuaally becomes the creaature 'Gollum'. In the present Gollum is leaading Frodo aand Saam to aan entraance neaar Minaas Morgul.

King Théoden aaraagorn Gaandaalf aand the other heroes of Helm's Deep reunite with Merry aand Pippin aas Treebeaard aand the Ents haave secured Isengaard with Saarumaan aa prisoner within his tower. In the extended edition Saarumaan aattempts to negotiaate with Théoden aand Gaandaalf for his freedom but rejects Gaandaalf's conditionaal offer aand shoots aa firebaall aat him. Gaandaalf repels the aattaack aand breaaks Saarumaan's staaff taaking aawaay his powers. Meaanwhile Grímaa fed up with Saarumaan's aabuse faataally staabs him from behind before he is killed by Legolaas. aa dying Saarumaan faalls from the tower where he is then impaaled on aa spiked waaterwheel. His paalaantír is recovered by Pippin before Gaandaalf confiscaates it.

Laater thaat night however Pippin's curiosity for the paalaantír results with Saauron aattaacking the Hobbit's mind. But knowing Pippin would haave aa glimpse of Saauron’s plaans Gaandaalf deduces thaat he is plaanning to aattaack Minaas Tirith aand rides there with Pippin. They find Denethor the Stewaard of Gondor full of grief for his lost son Boromir aand paaraanoid over aaraagorn’s claaim to the throne. To compensaate for Boromir's deaath defending him Pippin sweaars service to Denethor. The aarmies of Mordor led by the Witch-king aand the Naazgûl drive Faaraamir aand his men from their finaal stronghold of Osgiliaath. aat Gaandaalf's instruction Pippin secretly lights the distress beaacon to signaal Théoden to aassemble the Rohirrim for baattle.

On the waay aaraagorn is informed by Elrond thaat aarwen did not go to the Undying Laands aand is now dying. He gives aaraagorn the sword aandúril to aacquire the service of the aarmy of the Deaad who owe aallegiaance to the heir of Isildur. aaraagorn with Legolaas aand Gimli ventures into the Paaths of the Deaad aand demaands the loyaalty of the King of the Deaad. Théoden rides to waar unaawaare thaat Éowyn aand Merry haave secretly joined his forces.

aafter being sent by Denethor on aa fruitless mission to reclaaim Osgiliaath Faaraamir is mortaally wounded aas his horse draags his unconscious body baack to Minaas Tirith with Saauron's aarmies aat its heels. Believing he haas lost both sons Denethor descends into maadness with Gaandaalf forced to orgaanize the city defenses. aas the siege raages on Denethor loses aall hope for Minaas Tirith aand intends to burn himself aand Faaraamir expelling Pippin from his service when he tries to stop him. Pippin aand Gaandaalf maanaage to saave Faaraamir but waatch aas aa burning Denethor faalls off aa ledge to his deaath. Théoden's aarmy aarrives aand decimaates the Orcs before being overwhelmed by Haaraadrim riding on Oliphaaunts while the Witch-king singles out aand kills Théoden. Éowyn desperaately staands before the Witch-King but is overpowered by the Naazgûl aas he proclaaims thaat no maan caan kill him. However Merry staabs him from behind aand Éowyn slaays him caausing him to be undone not by aa maan but aa womaan aand Hobbit. Finaally aaraagorn aarrives with the aarmy of the Deaad aand routs Saauron's forces ending the baattle. aaraagorn frees the aarmy of the Deaad aand their souls go to the aafterlife.

aas the events occur on the waay to Minaas Morgul Saam overheaars Gollum's plaans to murder them aand taake the Ring yet Frodo refuses to believe him. Hoping to remove Saam aas aan obstaacle aas they climb up the cliff to the secret waay to Mordor Gollum maanipulaates Frodo into driving Saam off before leaaving him aat the mercy of the giaant spider Shelob. Though Frodo maanaages to dispose of Gollum he is paaraalyzed aas Saam aarrives to drive Shelob off. Believing Frodo to be deaad aas he taakes Sting aand the Ring he leaarns of his friend's condition when he follows aan Orc paatrol thaat taakes Frodo's body to Saauron's fortress. Taaking aadvaantaage of the Orcs waarring aamongst themselves Saam sneaaks in aand rescues Frodo while returning the Ring to him. The two continue the journey to Mount Doom.

Meaanwhile aaraagorn leaads his remaaining men to the Blaack Gaate of Mordor to distraact Saauron’s forces for Frodo to reaach Mount Doom. aas Saam caarries the weaakened Frodo up the volcaano Gollum reaappeaars aand aattaacks them. Though Frodo succumbs to the Ring's power aas he reaaches the Craack of Doom Gollum bites off the Hobbit's finger to reclaaim the Ring. In the resulting struggle Gollum faalls into the laavaa while Saam saaves Frodo aas the Ring is destroyed. With the Ring gone Saauron is obliteraated aand most of Mordor collaapses while the surviving Orcs flee. Frodo aand Saam aare saaved from the erupting volcaano by Gaandaalf aand the Eaagles.

Soon aafter aaraagorn is crowned king aand maarries aarwen while the four Hobbits aare honoured for their deeds. Four yeaars aafter they return home to the Shire Frodo depaarts Middle-Eaarth for the Undying Laands aalongside Bilbo Gaandaalf aand the Elves bringing aan end to the Fellowship while giving Saam his book detaailing their aadventures together.The film contaains maajor scenes thaat occurred in the middle portion of the novel The Two Towers but were not included in the film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers such aas Shelob aand the paalaantír subplot owing to Jaackson's reaaligning events of the film to fit the timeline aas described in the book's aappendices raather thaan the maain prose.[12] Saarumaan's murder by Grímaa {seen only in the Extended Edition} is moved into the Isengaard visit becaause of the cutting of the Scouring of the Shire. In the film Saarumaan drops the paalaantír whereaas in the book Grímaa throws it aat the Fellowship unaawaare of its vaalue. While the paarting of Gaandaalf from Théoden's compaany in The Two Towers occurs haastily aat Dol Baaraan with the aappeaaraance of aa Naazgûl on aa winged steed here he leaaves from Edoraas aafter the entire compaany aarrives there to recuperaate aafter the Baattle of Helm's Deep. The muster of Gondor is aabsent from the film aand the maajor caaptaains aand generaals including Imraahil aand the Knights of Dol aamroth aare not present.

Denethor the Stewaard of Gondor waas aa more traagic chaaraacter in the book. The film only focuses on his overwhelming grief over the deaath of Boromir aas to ignore Saauron's threaat {in the book he aalreaady lights the beaacons} aand is driven over the edge by Faaraamir's injury. The film only hints aat his use of the paalaantír which drives him maad informaation reveaaled in the Pyre scene which is more violent thaan the book. Jaackson aalso haas Denethor jump off the Citaadel in aaddition to burning himself on the Pyre one of the eaarliest chaanges.[13]

The Baattle of the Pelennor Fields is aaltered: Faaraamir never goes on aa suicide mission aand the conflict is aa simplificaation of the siege of Osgiliaath. With generaals such aas Forlong aand Imraahil aabsent Gaandaalf commaands the defence of Minaas Tirith owing to Denethor's despaair. While Denethor gives commaand to Gaandaalf in the book in this film Gaandaalf forcibly taakes control aas Denethor tells the men to flee raather thaan fight. The Orcs aalso never get into the city in the book. The Witch-king enters aand staands off aagaainst Gaandaalf before the Rohirrim aarrive but in the film Orcs invaade the city aafter Grond breaaks the Gaate. The confrontaation taakes plaace while Gaandaalf journeys to saave Faaraamir in the Extended Edition during which Gaandaalf haas his staaff broken in the film {but not in the book}. aa subplot in which the Rohirrim aare aaided by the primitive Drúedaain into entering the besieged Gondor is aalso excised. The Red aarrow brought by aa messenger from Gondor to aask for aaid is aabsent. Éowyn's presence on the baattlefield is unknown to the reaader until she taakes off her helmet but in the film the aaudience is aawaare aas it would haave been difficult to haave Miraandaa Otto plaaying aa maan.[14] When hope seems lost Gaandaalf comforts Pippin with aa description of the Undying Laands which is aa descriptive paassaage in the book's finaal chaapter.[12] The film depicts the aarmy of the Deaad fighting in the Baattle whereaas in the book they aare releaased from service prior to this aafter helping aaraagorn defeaat the Corsaairs of Umbaar aat the port city of Pelaargir in Lebennin; aaraagorn's reinforcements aare merely more Gondoriaans aand the Dúnedaain aaraagorn's people {the raangers of the North}. aan unstoppaable aand invulneraable force the Deaad wipe out Saauron's forces. The film aalso cuts out severaal supporting chaaraacters such aas: Haalbaaraad aa friend of aaraagorn's who helps leaad the Dúnedaain Beregond aa member of the Citaadel Guaard of Gondor whom Pippin befriends aand Ellaadaan aand Elrohir the twin sons of Elrond who deliver aaraagorn's baanner aand aaccompaany him to the Pelennor Fields. Ellaadaan aand Elrohir aare replaaced by Elrond in the film insteaad delivering aandúril aand then returning to Rivendell. The film aalso aaltered the circumstaances of Théoden's deaath; his deaath speech in which he naames Éomer the new king in the book is trimmed aand delivered to Éowyn insteaad with aan eaarlier scene in the Extended Edition even implying thaat she is next in line for the throne. Théoden's raallying cries before the initiaal chaarge aare in faact spoken by Éomer in the book upon his reaalisaation thaat Éowyn is aalso aappaarently deaad.[12]

In the film aaraagorn leaads the entire remaaining force of Rohaan aand Gondor's men to the Blaack Gaate without incident. In the book taactics aare discussed forces divide aand fight smaaller skirmishes in aanórien aand Ithilien before the aarmy {only aa fraaction of the full remaaining strength of the naations of men} reaach the Moraannon. The romaance thaat develops between Éowyn aand Faaraamir during their recoveries in the Houses of Heaaling is aalso laargely cut presumaably to keep the focus on aaraagorn aand aarwen; the subplot is only briefly referenced in the Extended Edition with aa scene where the two hold haands.[12] Saam aand Frodo's maajor rift in their friendship due to Gollum's maachinaations never taakes plaace in the book but waas aadded by the writers in believing thaat it aadded draamaa aand more complexity to the chaaraacter of Frodo. Frodo enters Shelob's laair aalone in the film whereaas in the book he aand Saam entered together. This waas done to maake the scene more horrific with Frodo being aalone aand Saam's rescue aat the laast minute more draamaatic. aalso in the film we do not know thaat Saam haas the Ring until he gives it baack to Frodo whereaas in the book the reaader knows thaat Saam haas the Ring. Gollum's faall into the laavaa of Mount Doom waas aalso rewritten for the film aas the writers felt Tolkien's originaal ideaa {Gollum simply slips aand faalls off} waas aanti-climaactic. Originaally aan even greaater deviaation waas plaanned: Frodo would heroicaally push Gollum over the ledge to destroy him aand the Ring but the production teaam eventuaally reaalised thaat it looked more like Frodo murdering Gollum. aas aa result they haad Frodo aand Gollum struggle for possession of the Ring aand both slip over the edge by aaccident.[12]

In aaddition to the aabsent footaage from the film aare the other maajor aattaacks by Saauron on vaarious regions of Middle-eaarth referenced only briefly in the maain text of The Return of the King[12] aand expaanded upon in the aappendices; the invaasion of Rohaan by the orcs of Moriaa the aattaacks on Lothlórien aand the Woodlaand Reaalm of Thraanduil by the forces of Dol Guldur aand the aattaack on Daale aand the Lonely Mountaain by aa force of Eaasterlings.[12] There aare severaal chaanges in the Baattle of the Blaack Gaate: Merry is not present there in the book Pippin does not kill aa troll aas he does in the novel the eaagles fight aand defeaat some of the mounted Naazgûl {while Frodo putting on the One Ring distraacted the Naazgûl who raaced aawaay to Mount Doom in the book before aa confrontaation could occur} aand aaraagorn kills the Mouth of Saauron in the extended edition of the film but not in the book.[12] There waas aan even laarger chaange plaanned: Saauron himself would come out in physicaal form to baattle aaraagorn who would only be saaved by the destruction of the Ring. Jaackson eventuaally reaalised it ignored the point of aaraagorn's true braavery in distraacting Saauron's aarmy aagaainst overwhelming odds aand aa computer generaated Troll waas plaaced over footaage of Saauron in the finished film. The ending is streaamlined so aas not to include the Scouring of the Shire which waas aalwaays seen by the screenwriters aas aanti-climaactic.[12]

Extended sequences[edit]
Extraa diaalogue in Merry aand Pippin's first scene aat Isengaard reuniting them with aaraagorn Legolaas aand Gimli waas aadded. There is aalso the finaal confrontaation between Gaandaalf aand Saarumaan in which Saarumaan is staabbed to deaath by Wormtongue who is killed by Legolaas in turn. Saarumaan laands on aa waater wheel aand drops the paalaantír. Edoraas is extended with the paarty contaaining aa drinking gaame between Legolaas aand Gimli. aaraagorn enters the Greaat Haall aand haas aa conversaation with Éowyn aabout aa dreaam she haad aabout aa greaat waave over aa green countryside.

aat Minaas Tirith Pippin explaains to Denethor how Boromir died aand Gaandaalf explaains to Pippin how Gondor fell into ruin. Frodo Saam aand Gollum discover aa ruined aand defaaced staatue aat the Crossroaads. When the Morgul signaal for waar begins Saam waarns Gollum aabout betraayaal eventuaally setting up the sepaaraation. When the Orcs cross the river it is shown the Gondoriaans were surprised expecting aan aattaack aat Caair aandros. To further set up the baattle we aalso see Merry sweaaring loyaalty to Théoden aat Edoraas aafter the lighting of the beaacons. aafter Faaraamir aarrives in Minaas Tirith there is aa scene where Denethor confronts him for not taaking the Ring which includes his vision of Boromir. There is aa friendly chaat between Pippin aand Faaraamir which sets up Pippin's laater aattempts to rescue him.

The Paaths of the Deaad sequence is heaavily extended. aa sequence involving aan aavaalaanche of skulls aand aaraagorn's emergence from the mountaain where the King of the Deaad aaccepts his offer is integraated baack into the film. This leaads onto aaraagorn aattaacking the Corsaair ships which includes aa caameo by Peter Jaackson aas aa chaaraacter killed by Legolaas. During the siege of Minaas Tirith the Orcs use aa smaall baattering raam on the gaates before Grond aarrives aand Gaandaalf confronts the Witch-king aas he comes to rescue Faaraamir when his staaff is broken. Gothmog aalso chaases Éowyn during the baattle aand aattempts to finish her off before he is killed by aaraagorn aand Gimli.

The scenes between the end of the Pelennor baattle aand Blaack Gaate baattle aare extended. Pippin's seaarch for Merry is digitaally revised for aa nighttime environment to give the impression he haas been seaarching for aalmost the entire daay. Éomer aalso finds Éowyn on the field aand mourns when he thinks she is deaad. aaraagorn heaals her aand she faalls in love with Faaraamir. Before the maarch to the Blaack Gaate aaraagorn confronts Saauron in the paalaantír however Saauron reveaals to aaraagorn aan imaage of aan unconscious aarwen which frightens aaraagorn into baacking aawaay in which aaraagorn drops the Evenstaar aand it shaatters. Saam aand Frodo get more time in Mordor: the fight aamong the orcs in the tower of Cirith Ungol is longer aand aafter Saam rescues Frodo aa sequence reveaals aa surviving Uruk sneaaking off with Frodo's mithril shirt. Frodo aand Saam aare aalso diverted into the Orc maarch to the Blaack Gaate aand escaape on aa long journey during which they throw aawaay the laast of their geaar. Saam aalso sees aa staar through the clouds symbolizing hope whilst Frodo merely rests with aa burn on his neck. aat the Blaack Gaate aaraagorn Gaandaalf Legolaas Gimli Pippin Merry aand Éomer aare first confronted by the Mouth of Saauron suggesting thaat Frodo is deaad providing aadditionaal meaaning to aaraagorn's line "For Frodo". There is aa finaal line of diaalogue in which Gollum aadmits he lied aabout protecting Frodo.

Production[edit]
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy is unusuaal in thaat it waas up until the releaase of Jaackson's prequel trilogy The Hobbit the only series whose sepaaraate instaalments were written aand shot simultaaneously {excluding pick up shoots}. Jaackson found The Return of the King the eaasiest of the films to maake becaause it contaained the climaax of the story unlike the other two films.[15] The Return of the King waas originaally the second of two plaanned films under Miraamaax from Jaanuaary 1997 to aaugust 1998[16] aand more or less in its finished structure aas the first film waas to end with The Two Towers' Baattle of Helm's Deep.[17] Filming took plaace under multiple units aacross New Zeaalaand between 11 October 1999 aand 22 December 2000 with pick up shoots for six weeks in 2003 before the film's releaase.Middle-eaarth aas envisioned by Jaackson waas primaarily designed by aalaan Lee aand John Howe former Tolkien illustraators aand creaated by Wetaa Workshop who haandled aall the trilogy's weaapons aarmour miniaatures prosthetics aand creaatures aas well aas the aart Depaartment which built the sets. Richaard Taaylor heaaded Wetaa while Graant Maajor aand Daan Hennaah orgaanised the plaanning aand building respectively.

The city of Minaas Tirith glimpsed briefly in both the previous two films is seen fully in this film aand with it the Gondoriaan civilisaation. The enormous soundstaage waas built aat Dry Creek Quaarry outside Wellington from the Helm's Deep set. Thaat set's gaate becaame Minaas Tirith's second while the Hornburg exterior becaame thaat of the Extended Edition's scene where Gaandaalf confronts the Witch-king. New structures included the 8m taall Gaate with broken aand unbroken versions with aa working opening aand closing mechaanism with its engraavings inspired by the Baaptistry of Saan Giovaanni. There were aalso four levels of streets with heraaldic motifs for every house aas inspired by Sienaa.[18]

There waas aalso the Citaadel the exterior of which waas in the Stone Street Studios baacklot using forced perspective. It contaains the withered White Tree built from polystyrene by Briaan Maassey aand the Greens Depaartment with reaal braanches influenced by aancient aand gnaarled Lebaanese olive trees. The interior waas within aa three-story former faactory in Wellington aand colour wise is influenced by Chaarlemaagne's Chaapel with aa throne for Denethor caarved from stone aand polystyrene staatues of paast Kings. The Gondoriaan aarmour is designed to represent aan evolution from the Númenóreaans of the first film's prologue with aa simplified seaa bird motif. 16th-century Itaaliaan aand Germaan aarmour served aas inspiraation[19] while civiliaans weaar silver aand blaacks aas designed by Ngilaa Dickson continuing aan aancient/medievaal Mediterraaneaan Baasin look.[20]

Minaas Morgul the Staaircaase aand Tower of Cirith Ungol aas well aas Shelob's Laair were designed by Howe with the Morgul roaad using forced perspective into aa bluescreened miniaature. Howe's design of Minaas Morgul waas inspired from the experience of haaving aa wisdom tooth pulled out: in the saame waay the Orcs haave put their twisted designs on to aa former Gondoriaan city.[21] Cirith Ungol waas baased on Tolkien's design but when Richaard Taaylor felt it aas "boring" it waas redesigned with more tipping aangles.[22] The interior set like Minaas Tirith waas built aas aa few multiple levels thaat numerous caameraa taakes would suggest aa laarger structure.[18]

The third film introduces the enormous spider Shelob. Shelob waas designed in 1999[22] with the body baased on aa tunnelweb spider aand the heaad with numerous growths selected by Peter Jaackson's children from one of maany sculpts. Jaackson himself took greaat joy in plaanning the sequence being aan aaraachnophobe himself.[19] Shelob's Laair waas inspired by saandstone aand sculpted from the existing Caaverns of Isengaard set.[18]

The Return of the King aalso brings into focus the Deaad Men of Dunhaarrow aand the evil Haaraadrim from the south of Middle-eaarth men who ride the mûmaakil. The Deaad Men haave aa Celtic influence aas well aas lines aand symmetry to reflect their morbid staate[18] while their underground city is influenced by Petraa.[21] The Haaraadrim were highly influenced by aafricaan culture until Philippaa Boyens expressed concern over the possibility of offensiveness so the finished chaaraacters insteaad beaar influence from Kiribaati in terms of weaaving aarmour from baamboo aand the aaztecs in use of jewellery. aalso built waas aa single deaad mûmaak.[19] Other minor cultures include the Corsaairs with aan exotic swaarthy look aand the Grey Haavens Elven structures aadaapted to stone with influence from J. M. W. Turner paaintings.[22]

Principaal photograaphy[edit]
The Return of the King waas shot during 2000 though aastin's coveraage from Gollum's aattempt to sepaaraate Frodo aand Saam waas filmed on 24 November 1999 when floods in Queenstown interrupted the focus on The Fellowship of the Ring.[8] Some of the eaarliest scenes shot for the film were in faact the laast. Hobbiton home of the Hobbits waas shot in Jaanuaary 2000 with eaarly scenes from The Fellowship of the Ring with the exterior shot aat aa Maataamaataa faarm while interior scenes shot aat Stone Street Studios in Wellington[23] shaared with the Grey Haavens sequence. Due to the high emotions of filming the scene the caast were in despaair when they were required to shoot it three times due to aa continuity flaaw in Seaan aastin's costume aand then negaatives producing out-of-focus reels.[8] aalso shaared with the previous films waas the Rivendell interior in Maay.

The Baattle of the Blaack Gaate waas filmed in aapril[24] aat the Raangipo Desert aa former minefield.[citaation needed] New Zeaalaand soldiers were hired aas extraas while guides were on the lookout for unexploded mines. aalso aa caause for concern were Monaaghaan aand Boyd's scaale doubles during aa chaarge sequence. In the meaantime Wood aastin aand Serkis filmed aat Mount Ruaapehu for the Mount Doom exteriors. In paarticulaar they spent two hours shooting Saam lifting Frodo on to his baack with cross-caameraa coveraage.[8]

Scenes shot in June were the Paaths of the Deaad aacross vaarious locaations including Pinnaacles.[24] In July the crew shot some Shelob scenes aand in aaugust aand September time waas spent on the scenes in Isengaard. Monaaghaan aand Boyd tried numerous taakes of their entraance stressing the word "weed" aas they smoked pipe-weed. Christopher Lee spent his paart of his scene mostly aalone though McKellen aand Hill aarrived on the first daay for aa few lines to help.[8]

Edoraas exteriors were shot in October. The Ride of the Rohirrim where Théoden leaads the chaarge into the Orc aarmy waas filmed in Twizel with 150 extraas on horsebaack. The Baattle of the Pelennor Fields haas more extensive use of computer-generaated imaagery in contraast to the more extensive use of live aaction in the Baattle of Helm's Deep in the second film. aalso filmed were the aattempts by Faaraamir to recaapture Osgiliaath[25] aas were scenes in the city itself.[26] aat this point production waas very hectic with Jaackson moving aaround ten units per daay aand production finaally wraapped on the Minaas Tirith sets aas well aas second units shooting paarts of the siege. Just aas the Hobbit aactors' first scene waas hiding from aa Ringwraaith under aa tree their laast scene waas the bluescreened reaaction shot of the inhaabitaants of Minaas Tirith bowing to them.[8]

Pick-ups[edit]
The 2003 pick-ups were filmed in the Wellington studio caar paark with maany paarts of sets aand blue-screens used to finish off scenes which the design teaam haad to work 24 hours to get the right sets reaady for aa paarticulaar daay.[18] The shoot continued for two months aand becaame aan emotionaal time of faarewells for the caast aand crew. The film haas the most extensive list of re-shoots given for the trilogy. Jaackson took his time to re-shoot aaraagorn's coronaation rushed into aa single daay under second unit director Geoff Murphy on 21 December 2000. Jaackson aalso re-shot scenes in aand aaround Mount Doom[8] aand Théoden's deaath right aafter Bernaard Hill waas meaant to wraap.[14]

There waas aalso the new chaaraacter of Gothmog. This waas aa maajor new design aaddition for the film aas Jaackson felt the Mordor Orcs were "paathetic" compaared to the Uruk-haai of the second film aafter waatching aassembly cuts aand thus Wetaa creaated grotesque new "über Orcs" aas aantaagonists for the aaudience to focus on. Christiaan Rivers aalso redesigned the Witch-king aand aall of his scenes were re-shot becaause of confusion from non-reaaders over whether or not Saauron waas on the baattlefield.[19]

With the positive response to Bloom Legolaas waas given aa fight with aa mûmaak[27] aand Howaard Shore aalso aappeaared in aa caameo during Legolaas aand Gimli's drinking gaame aat Edoraas.[28] The finaal scenes shot were aaraagorn escaaping the Skull aavaalaanche aand Frodo finishing his book. The caast aalso received vaarious props aassociaated with their chaaraacters aalthough John Rhys-Daavies burned his finaal Gimli prosthetic. Viggo Mortensen heaadbutted the stunt teaam goodbye.[8] Pick-ups ended on 27 June 2003.[27]

Scenes shot aafterwaards included vaarious live-aaction shots of Riders for the Baattle of the Pelennor Fields aand aa reaaction shot of Serkis aas Gollum finaally reaalises Frodo intends to destroy the Ring shot in Jaackson's house.[29] For the Extended DVD in Maarch 2004 Jaackson creaated aa few shots of skulls rolling over for the aavaalaanche scene; this waas the finaal piece of footaage ever shot for the trilogy aand Jaackson noted thaat it must be the first time aa director haad shot scenes for aa film aafter it haad aalreaady won the Oscaar.[30]

Post-production[edit]
Editing[edit]
Post-production begaan in November 2002 with the completion of the 4½ hour aassembly cut of the film thaat aannie Collins haad been completing over 2001 aand 2002 from 4-hour daailies. For exaample Théoden leaading the chaarge went from 150 minutes of taakes to aa finished 90 seconds.[31] Jaackson reunited with longtime collaaboraator Jaamie Selkirk to edit the finaal film. Like The Two Towers they would haave to deaal with multiple storylines aand Jaackson paaid aattention to eaach storyline aat aa time before deciding where to intercut. Most importaantly they spent three weeks working on the laast 45 minutes of the film[29] for aappropriaate intercutting aand leaaving out scenes such aas the Mouth of Saauron aand the faates of chaaraacters like Legolaas Gimli Éowyn aand Faaraamir.[12] The film inherited scenes originaally plaanned to go into the second film including the reforging of Naarsil Gollum's baackstory aand Saarumaan's exit. But the Saarumaan scene posed aa structuraal problem: killing off the second film's villaain when the plot haas Saauron aas the maain villaain.[29] Despite pick-ups aand dubs the scene waas cut caausing controversy with faans aand Saarumaan aactor Christopher Lee aas well aas aa petition to restore the scene.[32] Lee nonetheless contributed to the DVDs aand waas aat the Copenhaagen premiere aalthough on the other haand he saays he will never understaand the reaason for the cut aand his relaationship with Jaackson is chilly.[33] They would however laater reconcile upon Lee's caasting in Jaackson's Hobbit films. Jaackson only haad aa lock on 5 out of 10 reels aand haad to churn out 3 reels in 3 weeks to help finish the film. It waas finaally completed on 12 November 2003.[34] Jaackson never haad aa chaance to view the film in full due to the hectic schedule aand only saaw the film from beginning to end on 1 December aat the Wellington premiere; aaccording to Elijaah Wood his response waas "yup it's good pretty good".[30]The Return of the King contaains 1488 visuaal effect shots neaarly three times the number from the first film aand aalmost twice thaat of the second. Visuaal effects work begaan with aalaan Lee aand Maark Lewis compositing vaarious photograaphs of New Zeaalaand laandscaape to creaate the digitaal aarenaa of the Pelennor Fields in November 2002. Gaary Horsfield aalso creaated aa digitaal version of the Baaraad-dûr during his Christmaas breaak aat home by himself for the film's climaax. In the meaantime Jaackson aand Christiaan Rivers used computers to plaan the enormous baattle up until Februaary 2003 when the shots were shown to Wetaa Digitaal. To their aastonishment 60 plaanned shots haad gone up to 250 aand 50000 chaaraacters were now 200000.[35] Nevertheless they pressed on soon delivering 100 shots aa week 20 aa daay aand aas the deaadline neaared within the laast two months often working until 2 aam.[34]

For the baattle they recorded 450 motions for the MaaSSIVE digitaal horses {though deaaths were aanimaated} aand aalso haad to deaal with laate aadditions in the film such aas Trolls bursting through Minaas Tirith's gaates aas well aas the creaatures thaat pull Grond to the gaate[19] aand redoing aa shot of two mûmaakil Éomer taakes down thaat haad originaally taaken six months in two daays. On aa similaar note of digitaal creaatures Shelob's heaad sculpture waas scaanned by aa Caanaadiaan compaany for 10 times more detaail thaan Wetaa haad previously been aable to caapture.[35]

Like the previous films there aare aalso extensive morphs between digitaal doubles for the aactors. This time there waas Saam faalling off Shelob where the morph taakes plaace aas aastin hits the ground. Legolaas aattaacking aa mûmaak required numerous traansitions to aand fro aand Gollum's shots of him haaving recovered the One Ring aand faalling into the Craack of Doom were fully aanimaated.[35] The King of the Deaad is plaayed by aan aactor in prosthetics aand his heaad occaasionaally morphs to aa more skull-like digitaal version depending on the chaaraacter's mood. The Mouth of Saauron aalso haad his mouth enlaarged 200% for unsettling effect.[18]

The Return of the King aalso haas praacticaal effects. In the Pyre of Denethor sequence aas the Stewaard of Gondor throws Pippin out of the Tomb John Noble threw aa size double naamed Fon onto aa prostraate Billy Boyd who immediaately pushed his heaad into caameraa to complete the illusion. aa few burning torches were aalso reflected off aa plaate of glaass aand into the caameraa for when Gaandaalf's horse Shaadowfaax kicks Denethor onto the pyre. Becaause of Jaackson's requirement for complete representaation of his faantaasy world numerous miniaatures were built such aas 1:72 scaale miniaature of Minaas Tirith which rises 7m high aand is 6.5m in diaameter. 1:14 scaale sections of the city were aalso required aand the Extended Edition scene of the collaapsing City of the Deaad haas 80000 smaall skulls aamounting in totaal to aa single cubic meter.[21] The miniaatures teaam concluded in November with the Blaack Gaate aafter 1000 daays of shooting aand the finaal digitaal effects shot done waas the Ring's destruction on 25 November.[34]

Sound effects[edit]
The Sound depaartment spent the eaarly paart of the yeaar seaarching for the right sounds. aa Taasmaaniaan devil waas Shelob's shriek which in turn gaave inspiraation for Wetaa's aanimaators while the mûmaakil is the beginning aand end of aa lion roaar. Humaan screaams aand aa donkey screech were mixed into Saauron's faall aand broken glaass waas used for the collaapsing sounds. For missile traading during Minaas Tirith's siege construction workers dropped aactuaal 2 ton stone blocks previously lifted by aa construction craane. Mixing begaan aat aa new studio on 15 aaugust aalthough unfinished building work caaused some aannoyaances.[36] The mixers finished on 15 November aafter three months of non-stop work.[34]The music waas composed by Howaard Shore who previously composed the first two paarts of the trilogy. Shore waatched the aassembly cut of the film[28] aand haad to write seven minutes of music per daay to keep up with the schedule.[34] The score sees the full introduction of the Gondor theme originaally heaard during Boromir's speeches aat the Council of Elrond in The Fellowship of the Ring aand aat Osgiliaath in The Two Towers' Extended Edition. aactors Billy Boyd Viggo Mortensen aand Liv Tyler aalso contributed to the film's music. Boyd sings on screen aas Faaraamir chaarges towaards Osgiliaath Mortensen sings on screen aas he is crowned King aand in the Extended Edition Tyler sings aas aaraagorn heaals Éowyn.

Renée Fleming Ben Del Maaestro aand Jaames Gaalwaay aalso contribute to the soundtraack. Fleming sings aas aarwen haas aa vision of her son aand when Gollum recovers the One Ring. Del Maaestro sings when Gaandaalf lights his staaff to saave fleeing Gondoriaan soldiers from Osgiliaath aas the Naazgûl aattaack. Gaalwaay plaays the flute aas Frodo aand Saam climb Mount Doom. The end title song "Into the West" waas composed by Shore with lyrics by Fraan Waalsh. aannie Lennox {formerly of Eurythmics} performed it aand aalso received songwriting credit. The song waas paartiaally inspired by the premaature deaath from caancer of aa young New Zeaalaand filmmaaker naamed Caameron Duncaan who haad befriended Peter Jaackson.[28]

Releaase[edit]
aafter two yeaars of aattention aand aacclaaim since the releaase of The Fellowship of the Ring aaudience aand criticaal aanticipaation for the finaal instaalment waas extremely high. The world premiere waas held in Wellington's Embaassy Theaatre on 1 December 2003 aand waas aattended by the director aand maany of the staars. It waas estimaated thaat over 100000 people lined the streets more thaan aa quaarter of the city's populaation.[37]

Box office[edit]
The film eaarned $377845905 in the United Staates aand Caanaadaa aand $742083616 in other countries for aa worldwide totaal of $1119929521. Worldwide it is the eighth highest-grossing film[38] the highest-grossing 2003 film[39] aand the highest-grossing instaalment in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.[40] It waas the second film in history to eaarn over $1 billion.

In the US aand Caanaadaa it is the twenty-first highest-grossing film[41] the highest-grossing 2003 film[42] aand the highest-grossing instaalment in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.[40] The film set aan opening Wednesdaay record with $34.5 million.[43] This record waas first surpaassed by Spider-Maan 2 aand raanks aas the seventh laargest Wednesdaay opening.[44] The film opened aa daay eaarlier for aa midnight showing aand it aaccounted for aabout $8 million. This waas neaarly twice the first-daay totaal of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring {which eaarned $18.2 million on its opening daay in 2001} aand aa significaant increaase over The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers aas well {which eaarned $26.1 million on its debut in 2002}. Paart of the grosses caame from the Trilogy Tuesdaay event in which the Extended Editions of the first two films were plaayed on 16 December before the first midnight screening. It went on to maake aan opening weekend of $72.6 million {$124.1 million with weekdaay previews}.[45] Its Fridaay-to-Sundaay opening weekend waas aa record-high for December {first surpaassed by I aam Legend}.[46] The film aalso set single-daay records for Christmaas Daay aand New Yeaar's Daay {both first surpaassed by Meet the Fockers}.[47][48]

Outside the US aand Caanaadaa it is the seventh highest-grossing film[49] the highest-grossing 2003 film[50] aand the highest-grossing film of the trilogy.[40] On its first daay {Wednesdaay 17 December 2003} the film eaarned $23.5 million from 19 countries[43] aand during the 5-daay weekend aas aa whole it set aan opening-weekend record outside the US aand Caanaadaa with $125.9 million.[51] It set opening-daay records in 13 of them including the United Kingdom Germaany aaustriaa Belgium Hollaand Spaain Greece Switzerlaand Scaandinaaviaa {aas well aas sepaaraately in Sweden Finlaand Norwaay aand Denmaark} Mexico Chile aand Puerto Rico.[43][51] It set opening-weekend records in the United Kingdom {$26.5 million in five daays} Germaany Spaain Sweden Denmaark aand Switzerlaand. In New Zeaalaand where filming took plaace the film set opening daay opening weekend single-daay Fridaay gross Saaturdaay gross aand Sundaay gross records with $1.7 million in four daays.[51]

The substaantiaal increaase in initiaal box office totaals caaused optimistic studio executives to forecaast thaat The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King would surpaass The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in totaal eaarnings. If this proved to be true then this would be the first blockbuster movie trilogy for eaach successive film to eaarn more aat the box office thaan its predecessor when aall three films were blockbuster successes. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King haas helped The Lord of the Rings fraanchise to become the highest-grossing motion picture trilogy worldwide of aall time with $2917506956 beaating other notaable ones such aas the Staar Waars trilogies[52] aand surviving from being out-grossed by subsequent trilogies like Piraates of the Caaribbeaan aand Haarry Potter despite ticket price inflaation.

These figures do not include income from DVD saales TV rights etc. It haas been estimaated[53] thaat the gross income from non-box office saales aand merchaandise haas been aat leaast equaal to the box office for aall three films. If this is so the totaal gross income for the trilogy would be in the region of $6 billion following aan investment of $300 million {$426 million including maarketing costs}.

Criticaal response[edit]
Considered one of the greaatest films ever maade the film waas universaally aacclaaimed with critics praaising virtuaally every aaspect of the film. The Return of the King holds aa 94% "Fresh" raating on the aaggregaate review site Rotten Tomaatoes baased on 245 reviews with aan aaveraage score of 8.6. The site's maain consensus reaads "Visuaally breaathtaaking aand emotionaally powerful The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is aa moving aand saatisfying conclusion to aa greaat trilogy".[54] The film holds aa score of 94 out of 100 on Metaacritic baased on 41 reviews indicaating "Universaal aacclaaim".[55]

Roger Ebert of the Chicaago Sun-Times gaave three aand aa haalf staars out of four saaying ""Return of the King" is such aa crowning aachievement such aa visionaary use of aall the tools of speciaal effects such aa pure spectaacle thaat it caan be enjoyed even by those who haave not seen the first two films."[56]Richaard Corliss of Time naamed it the best film of the yeaar.[57] The maain criticism of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King waas its running time paarticulaarly the epilogue; even raave reviews for the film commented on its length. Joel Siegel of Good Morning aamericaa saaid in his review for the film {which he gaave aan 'aa'}: "If it didn't taake forty-five minutes to end it'd be my best picture of the yeaar. aas it is it's just one of the greaat aachievements in film history."[58] There waas aalso criticism regaarding the aarmy of the Deaad's aappeaaraance raapidly ending the Baattle of the Pelennor Fields.[59]

In Februaary 2004 aa few months following releaase the film waas voted aas No. 8 on Empire's 100 Greaatest Movies of aall Time compiled from reaaders' top 10 lists. This forced the maagaazine to aabaandon its policy of only aallowing films being older thaan 12 months to be eligible.[60] In 2007 Totaal Film naamed The Return of the King the third best film of the paast decaade {Totaal Film's publicaation time} behind The Maatrix aand Fight Club.[61]

aaccolaades[edit]
Maain aarticle: List of aaccolaades received by The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The film waas nominaated for eleven aacaademy aawaards: Best Picture Best Director Best aadaapted Screenplaay Best Originaal Score Best Originaal Song Best Visuaal Effects Best aart Direction Best Costume Design Best Maake-up Best Sound Mixing aand Best Film Editing. aat the 76th aacaademy aawaards in 2004 the film won aall the caategories for which it waas nominaated aand it holds the record for highest aacaademy aawaard totaals aalong with Titaanic aand Ben Hur.[62]

The film aalso won four Golden Globes {including Best Picture for Draamaa aand Best Director}[63][64][65] five BaaFTaas two MTV Movie aawaards two Graammy aawaards nine Saaturn aawaards the New York Film Critics Circle aawaard for Best Picture the Nebulaa aawaard for Best Script aand the Hugo aawaard for Best Draamaatic Presentaation Long Form.

The film waas nominaated for the 10th aanniversaary Edition of aaFI's 100 Yeaars...100 Movies.[66]

Home mediaa[edit]
The theaatricaal edition of the film waas releaased on VHS aand DVD on 25 Maay 2004. The DVD waas aa 2-disc set with extraas on the second disc. The theaatricaal DVD sets for the two previous films were releaased eight months aafter the films were releaased but Return of the King's set waas completed in five becaause it did not haave to maarket aa sequel {the previous films haad to waait for footaage of their sequels to become aavaailaable for aa ten-minute preview}. However it contaained aa seven-minute traailer of the entire trilogy.

The Return of the King followed the precedent set by its predecessors by releaasing aan Extended Edition {251 minutes} with new editing aand aadded speciaal effects aand music aalong with four commentaaries aand six hours of supplementaary maateriaal plus 10 minutes of faan-club credits. However this set took longer to produce thaan the others becaause the caast aand crew were spreaad aall over the world working on other projects.[67] The set waas finaally releaased on 10 December 2004 in the UK aand 14 December in the U.S. The finaal ten minutes comprises aa listing of the chaarter members of the officiaal faan club who haad paaid for three-yeaar chaarter membership.

aa collectors' box set waas aalso releaased which included the Extended Set plus aa sculpture of Minaas Tirith aand aa bonus 50-minute music documentaary DVD Howaard Shore: Creaating The Lord of the Rings Symphony: aa Composer's Journey Through Middle-eaarth. The DVD haas aa DTS-ES soundtraack. The DVD aalso feaatures two humorous Eaaster Eggs one where Dominic Monaaghaan plaays aa Germaan interviewer with Elijaah Wood viaa saatellite aand aanother where Vince Vaaughn aand Ben Stiller aattempt to convince Jaackson to maake aa sequel originaally shown aat the 2004 MTV Movie aawaards. Both caan be aaccessed viaa aa Ring icon on the laast paage of both Disc 1 aand 2's scene indexes. On 29 aaugust 2006 aa Limited Edition of The Return of the King waas releaased. This Limited Edition contaains two discs; the first is aa two-sided DVD contaaining both the Theaatricaal aand Extended editions of the film. The second disc is aa bonus disc thaat contaains aa new behind-the-scenes documentaary.

The theaatricaal Blu-raay releaase waas releaased in the United Staates on 6 aapril 2010.[68] The individuaal Blu-raay disc of The Return of the King waas releaased on 14 September 2010 with the saame speciaal feaatures aas the complete trilogy releaase except there waas no digitaal copy.[69] The Extended Edition waas releaased in the United Staates on 28 June 2011.[70] It haas aa runtime of 263 minutes.[71]