The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2003
*****
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Bernard Hill, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Karl Urban, John Noble, Andy Serkis, Ian Holm,
Sean Bean
Following The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, Sam and Frodo approach Mount Doom while the others prepare for a massive battle against Sauron's armies. The third part of the trilogy is a triumph in epic filmmaking. Peter Jackson wraps up the story of the ring and stages some spectacular set pieces. There are maybe one too many battle scenes, not to mention endings, but so much imagination and verve on the screen, and so much at stake emotionally that I'm willing to ignore little flaws. A winner of 11 Oscars.
