Movie #7: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Oscar wins: 11- Best Picture, Best Director (Jackson), Best Adapted Screenplay (Walsh, Boyens & Jackson), Best Original Score (Howard Shore), Best Original Song, Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Make-Up, Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing
Nominations: NoneDirected by: Peter Jackson
Written by: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien
Starring: Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, John Rhys-Davies, Orlando Bloom
Length: 200 minutes
Budget: $94 million
The greatest fantasy film of all time (and the only one to win Best Picture), and the conclusion to one of the best film triliogies of all time, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King dominated the 76th Academy Awards, winning all eleven of the films for which it was nomianted.
The Return of the King is the conclusion of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and it tells the tale of the hobbit Frodo Baggins (Wood) and his quest to destroy the One Ring in Mount Doom. He is followed by Gollum, and hunted by dark forces, while the rest of his now-broken-up fellowship battles the soldiers and creatures of the enemy.
This film, at a whopping three hours and twenty minutes, is the longest winner so far, by about 50 minutes. Also, with a budget of $94,000,000, it passes The Departed by four million dollars to be the most expensive. From the technological marvels, to the awe-inspiring visuals, to the incredible adaption of Tolkien's novel, Peter Jackson put together one of the biggest films in Hollywood history.
Many people have said that the awards The Return of the King won at the Oscars were really for the entire trilogy, but I'm entirely fine with this. The people involved with this trilogy took on a humongous project, and could not have done it any more successfully. Perhaps its only "weak" point was the acting, and this was reflected in its lack of any acting nomination throughout the three years it received nominations. Don't be fooled, though, the acting in this film is still very strong, all of the actors hold their own and are above average, but the acting is really split among several different characters, and all of their performances lack extreme difficulty. That being said, all of the actors should still be praised for bringing to life so successfully Tolkien's characters-- for fantasy fans everywhere.
If you've never seen the Lord of the Rings films, you are really missing out. Even if you aren't a fantasy fan, or don't enjoy the usual adventure film, these movies surpass every expectation to reach out to every viewer, and you might be surprised when you become fascinated with them.
As for my rankings, I've run into my first incredibly tough choice. As a whole, I think the trilogy would rank among my favorite films of all time. However, when rating this one installment against the other films I have seen, it's very tough to put it as #1, simply because I fell so in love with Million Dollar Baby the first time I saw it. I think LOTR definitely ranks above The Hurt Locker and the two below it, but it's a really tough choice among The Departed and No Country for Old Men. In the end, though, I think its entertainment value and the incredible work that Jackson did in this film has to put it up at #2.
Rankings:
1. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
3. The Departed (2006)
4. No Country for Old Men (2007)
5. The Hurt Locker (2009)
6. Crash (2005)
7. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
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