The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Short description
The final part of Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy follows two strands of a widening war. Frodo and Sam, guided by the treacherous Gollum, press on toward Mordor to destroy the One Ring, while Aragorn must claim the kingship of Gondor and lead the remaining forces of Men against Sauron's armies. As the enemy masses before Minas Tirith, the outcome of the approaching battle may decide whether the Ring-bearer has any chance of completing his task.
Jackson directed and wrote the screenplay with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, and produced it with Barrie M. Osborne and Walsh. Released in December 2003, it is the ninth of the fifteen films Jackson has directed, arriving between The Two Towers and King Kong. Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis and Dominic Monaghan lead a credited cast of 77, backed by a credited crew of 161.
Made for 94 million dollars, the film returned 1.16 billion dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 9 out of 10 from roughly 2.2 million votes, and on TMDB 8.5 out of 10 from over 27,000 votes. A critics' rating of 9.1 out of 10 from 305 reviews places it slightly above the audience scores. Its 201-minute runtime matches the scale of the story it closes.
What's left behind the scenes
- For the first time, an Oscar for Best Picture went to a fantasy film. And for the first time, a fantasy film director was recognized as the best among his peers.
- Facts and figures: 900 km of film were used during the entire filming process; 48,000 of all kinds of swords, axes and other armor were used; 20,600 actors were involved in various mass scenes; 2,400 personnel (makeup, editing, special effects, sound, etc.); 250 horses were used in one of the scenes; 114 character roles (characters who say at least a couple of lines in the film); 30 actors learned nonexistent languages and dialects; it took the creators 7 years to complete the entire trilogy.
- The first scene of the film, which explains the origin of Gollum, was originally intended to be included in the second film – “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” (2002).
- A new international record for box office collections was set – the film grossed a colossal $250 million during its opening weekend.
- There are two editing versions: theatrical release version – shortened to meet the requirements of US distribution companies, shown in cinemas and on television; special extended edition (SEE) – 50 minutes longer than the theatrical version.
- The Lord of the Rings trilogy received the most Academy Award nominations (30), surpassing such titans as The Godfather (28) and Star Wars (21).
- For the second time in the history of cinema, the main prize of the Academy Awards has been given to a sequel (previously, "The Godfather Part II" (1974) received the award). The record previously set by "Ben-Hur" (1959) and "Titanic" (1997) – 11 Oscar awards – has been repeated.
- All 11 nominations for the film resulted in awards. This is an absolute record. Previously, "The Last Emperor" (1987) and "The Seventh Seal" (1958) had won 9 out of 9 nominations.
- The film became the most-watched film of 2017 on the streaming platform Netflix. It topped the charts thanks to a Canadian resident who watched the blockbuster 361 times during her pregnancy. Suria-Anne Jones watched the director's cut of the film, which lasts 4 hours and 23 minutes.
- The film is based on J.R.R. Tolkien's novel “The Lord of the Rings” (1954-1955).
- One of the longest films to win an Academy Award (201 minutes). However, the film Gone with the Wind (1939) lasted as long as 238 minutes.
- The number of computer special effects increased from installment to installment. If 560 were used in the first part, then 800 in the second, and as many as 1500 in the final one.
- The battle scenes, in which the creators claim approximately 200,000 virtual characters participated, required a huge amount of processing time. Weta Digital, responsible for the effects, was even forced to build a new room for equipment, as a colossal amount of hardware was needed to process the images.
- Viggo Mortensen became so immersed in his role that he sometimes even outside of filming calmly responded to the name Aragorn.
- All three parts of the trilogy were filmed simultaneously.
- During the scriptwriting process for the trilogy, Peter Jackson originally envisioned 26-year-old Stuart Townsend to play the role of Aragorn. After 6 weeks of preparation, a decision was made to find an older actor. As is well known, Viggo Mortensen, aged 41, was cast.
- In February 2004, the film became the second in the history of cinema to gross over a billion dollars (the pioneer was "Titanic" (1997)).
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