Tagline: The Journey Ends.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The Fellowship’s journey is coming to an end. Sauron’s forces have attacked Gondor’s capital of Minas Tirith in final siege against mankind. Watched over by a fading steward, once great kingdom has never been in more desperate need of its king. But will Aragorn find the strength to become what he was born to be and rise to meet his destiny?
As Gandalf desperately tries to move the broken forces of Gondor to act, Théoden unites the warriors of Rohan to join in the fight. Even in their courage and passionate loyalty, the forces of men – with éowyn and Merry hidden among them – are no match against the swarming legions of enemies raining down on the kingdom.
With each victory comes great sacrifice. Despite their great losses, The Fellowship charges forward in the greatest battle of their lifetime, united in their singular goal to keep Sauron distracted and give Frodo a chance to complete his quest.
Traveling across treacherous enemy lands, Frodo must rely increasingly on Sam and Gollum as The Ring continues to test his allegiance and, ultimately, his humanity. It is the juxtaposing of the intimate against the immense and the emotional resonance of the journey’s end that connect Tolkien’s classic novel to our hearts and give it such enduring power. It is also what makes this final installment of Peter Jackson’s epic motion picture trilogy a landmark cinematic achievement. With the release of The Return of the King, Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne, co-chairmen and co-chief-executive-officers of New Line Cinema and executive producers of the film, reflect back on the immensity of achievement.
“Michael and I had made a leap of faith on some levels,” Shaye comments. “Films were not made this way – with three installments shot back-to-back. But we had a lot of faith in Peter’s commitment, and our faith was ultimately rewarded. We rolled the dice and it came up sevens. Peter has made three extraordinary motion pictures.”
A company that made its name on innovation and risk-taking, New Line took a gamble on Jackson’s vision for Tolkien’s mammoth book. “We were confident enough in Peter and the timelessness of Tolkien’s story to know that audiences would want to see these films,” Michael Lynne adds. “So, in many ways, it was a risk, but one well worth taking.”
Though Shaye and Lynne knew Jackson would deliver an epic on an unprecedented scale, the real surprise of the trilogy emerged in the emotional gravity Jackson and his ensemble cast would bring to the trilogy. “The cast of The Lord of the Rings have, in some cases, delivered the performances of their careers,” says Shaye and Lynne. “The mutual trust and respect shared by Jackson and his cast bears out the promise that he is very much an actor’s director. The action is spectacular, but the performances contained in these films are truly breathtaking.”
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Directed by: Peter Jackson
Starring: Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Ian McKellen, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Christopher Lee, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, David Aston, Bernard Hill, Alistair Browning
Screenplay by: Peter Jackson, Frances Walsh, Philippa Boyens
Production Design by: Grant Major
Cinematography by: Andrew Lesnie
Film Editing by: Jamie Selkirk
Costume Design by: Ngila Dickson, Richard Taylor
Set Decoration by: Dan Hennah, Alan Lee
Music by: Howard Shore
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for battle sequences, frightening images.
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release Date: December 17, 2003
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