#5 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

In Summary

The final entry into Peter Jackson's remarkable The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King makes sure to tie every loose end.

Middle-Earth is on the verge of a battle for its survival. Heavily outnumbered by the dark forces of Sauron, the world of men faces its last stand.

Any hope of destroying Sauron rests in the hands of Frodo Baggins, who must venture into Mordor, heavily weakened by the draining effects of the Ring and led by the creature Gollum, who still lusts after the power of that same ring.

The opening hour of the film is very much the calm before the storm. The colour pallete is almost charcoal black. Our heroes look gloomy, ashen-faced, knowing they face almost certain death.

It is a testament to Peter Jackson's direction that the Battle of the Pelennor Fields retains its sense of scale to this day despite advances in special effects over the past 15 years. Not only does the battle feel like it takes place over a large area, but there is a brutal physicality that places the viewer right in the middle of the action.

Importantly, The Return of the King isn't just a visual effects spectacular. Through the perfect casting of just about every role, we care about whether our heroes succeed. Despite being set in a fantasy world, there are some very human moments, which make the stakes feel very real.

A Memorable Quote

End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path... One that we all must take.

Things You May Not Know

• Andy Serkis and Elijah Wood were each given prop rings by Peter Jackson used in the movie. They both thought they had the only one.
• The dead oliphaunt carcass used in this movie is reportedly the largest prop ever built for a movie. According to members of the prop department, director Peter Jackson still thought it could have been bigger.
• To get enough extras for the Battle at the Black Gate, a few hundred members of the New Zealand Army were brought in. 

One of the Greatest of All Time?
As anyone who has read the books will know, to have even brought The Lord of the Rings to live-action film is an achievement. To have made genuinely good films that feel broadly true to the source material is a significant achievement - a testament to Peter Jackson's qualities as both a film-maker and a fan of the books.

The main criticism to be had of this film is that the ending rambles on past several different acceptable conclusions. Additionally, the use of Gimli as comic relief went a little too far in this final film.

Does The Return of the King stand on its own two feet a great films? Just about. Without the preceding two films, the level of what's at stake is perhaps lost slightly, but if you were only going to watch one The Lord of the Rings film, it should be this one.