Standing out amid an excellent cast is Elijah Wood, stymied by tweeness in the earlier films but here convincingly developing the character of Frodo as the embodiment of valor and self-sacrifice.
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02/06/07
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The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
98
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Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:42
Fresh:41
Rotten:1
Average Rating:8.6/10
Consensus: A moving and satisfying conclusion to a great trilogy.
Theatrical Release:Dec 17, 2003 Wide
Box Office: $376,958,965
Synopsis: THE RETURN OF THE KING, the third and final film in Peter Jackson's THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, finds Middle-earth on the cusp of great change. Weary hobbits Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean... [More]
Starring: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Sean Astin
Director: Peter Jackson
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Reviews for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Top CriticPops your eyes, excites your senses and brings you in as close as a whisper for scenes of startling emotion.
01/15/04
Top CriticAs I watched this film, an eager victim of its boundless will to astound, I found my loyal memories of the book beginning to fade.
01/06/04
Top CriticNot only has Jackson boldly and faithfully brought J.R.R. Tolkien's world to life, he's created the most epic and sweeping fantasy adventure of all time.
12/18/03
Top CriticCompletes the picture, magnificently so, and all honour and praise are due the visionaries behind the project.
12/17/03
Top CriticA movie for our time, perhaps for all time, mostly a good time and definitely a long time.
12/17/03
Top CriticIt reminds you of the power of film like no other movie in memory.
12/17/03
Top CriticI went along with the first and admired the second, but it wasn't until the third that I was swept away by the magnitude of Jackson's vision.
12/17/03
Top CriticConfirms Jackson's reputation as a kinetic director who has made author J.R.R. Tolkien's work his own -- not as plagiarist but as a visionary.
12/17/03
Top CriticReturn of the King is such a crowning achievement, such a visionary use of all the tools of special effects, such a pure spectacle, that it can be enjoyed even by those who have not seen the first two films.
12/17/03
Top CriticThe final chapter completes The Lord of the Rings series in thrilling style -- and restores faith in the idea that popular entertainment can soar to majestic heights.
12/17/03
Top CriticThe film event of the millennium.
12/16/03
Top CriticNot only a thrilling experience, it closes the book on a truly satisfying trilogy.
12/16/03
Top CriticTolkien and his representative on Earth, [Peter] Jackson, really know how to get a tale roaring down the tracks.
12/16/03
Top CriticThe director and screenwriter brings unity to a somewhat unwieldy story and handles the spectacle scenes with flourish and coherence.
12/16/03
Top CriticThe word trilogy, which was handed such a black eye by the Matrix movies, is restored to its proper dignity with Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
12/16/03
Top CriticThe second installment was better than the first, and this one is best of all.
12/16/03
Top CriticPeter Jackson's final installment in his monumental The Lord of the Rings represents that filmmaking rarity -- a third part of a trilogy that is decisively the best of the lot.
12/16/03
Top CriticLike all the other installments in the saga, The Return of the King is part of a good movie, but only mediocre on its own, full of awkward pauses and redundancies.
12/16/03
Top Critic[The] trilogy is, by any measure, a crowning moment in cinema history ... So why is the final installment, less than awesome?
12/16/03
Top CriticLatest News for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of...
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March 27, 2008:
Ian McKellen Is Not Too Busy for The Hobbit
Even while The Hobbit was in legal limbo, Sir Ian McKellen wasn't shy about letting people know he wanted to reprise his role as Gandalf for the Lord of the Rings prequel(s). More...
January 14, 2008:
Elijah Wood: Once a Frodo, Always a Frodo
Count Elijah Wood as one of the millions excited about the news of Peter Jackson's involvement in those planned Hobbit films -- and another member of the Lord of the Rings cast... More...
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