The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003)

The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King - 2003

Today we round out The Lord Of The Rings trilogy with 2003's "The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King", which finalizes the story of the quest to destroy the One Ring and bring peace to Middle Earth.

The film's ensemble cast includes Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Ian Holm, Andy Serkis, Ian McKellan, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, John Rhys-Davies, Liv Tyler, Hugo Weaving, Bernard Hill, Miranda Otto, Karl Urban, David Wenham, John Noble, Sarah McLeod, and Alexandra Astin.

We begin at Isengard and the field of victory won by Treebeard and the other Ents.

Treebeard tells Gandalf that there's a wizard to manage who is locked in his tower.  Gandalf tells Treebeard that he will be under his guard.

Pippin, meanwhile, finds the palantir that belonged to Saruman.  Gandalf is quick to take possession of it, and he quickly covers it up.

When the company gets to Rohan, they join in the celebration of victory for the Battle of Helm's Deep.  Eowyn continues to want to be close to Aragorn.

While all of this is going on, Gollum begins planting seeds of doubt in Frodo's mind about Sam, in an effort to isolate Frodo so that he can get the ring.

In Rohan, Legolas speaks of a dark presence he can feel.  "The stars are veiled.  Something stirs in the east.  A sleepless malice.  The eye of the enemy is moving.  He is here."

It turns out that Pippin finds the palantir again, but this time Sauron's eye gazes back at him from it.  Pippin undergoes some kind of torture before he is rescued by Aragorn and Gandalf.

After being questioned by Gandalf, Pippin reveals that he saw a tree.  Gandalf surmises that this is the tree of Gondor.  He and Pippin ride for Minas Tirith, the capital city of Gondor, in hopes of warning them and giving them time to gather troops to fight Sauron.

On her way to a ship that's to take her to the Undying Lands, Arwen has a vision of the future, in which she sees Aragorn and their son.  She leaves the procession of elves to return to Rivendell.

Arriving in Rivendell, Arwen tells her father that the future she saw is not lost.  She convinces him to reforge the sword that cut the ring from Sauron's hand.  "From the ashes a fire shall be woken.  A light from the shadow shall spring.      Renewed shall be blade that was broken.  The crownless again shall be king."  Arwen also reveals that she's given up her immortality to be with Aragorn.  There is no ship that can take her to the Undying Lands.

Gandalf and Pippin arrive at Minas Tirith, which looks out on Sauron's territory of Mordor.

Inside the Throne Room, they meet Denethor, the Steward of Gondor.  He refuses to send for Rohan to help them in the battle against Sauron.  He also refuses to recognize Aragorn as the heir to the throne of Gondor.  Gandalf rebukes him.  "Authority is not given to you to deny the return of the king, Steward!"

Later, Gandalf tells Pippin about Sauron's greatest and most deadly servant, the Witch King of Angmar, who stabbed Frodo on Weathertop.

At that exact moment, Gollum leads Frodo and Sam past the Witch King's lair, Minas Morgul, to the secret staircase that will lead them into Mordor.

All of the sudden, a beam of light shoots up from Minas Morgul and Sauron's army begins to emerge as it makes its way towards Minas Tirith.

Gandalf has Pippin secretly light the Beacons of Gondor so they can call to Rohan for aid.

When the fires reach Rohan, King Theoden musters his troops and prepares to head to Gondor for battle.

When Gondor's troops hurry to Minas Tirith from the river, Faramir tells Gandalf that the river stronghold is completely overrun with Orcs.  Faramir's father, Denethor, however, tells him to go back out and retake the stronghold.  Faramir knows it is an impossible task that will likely end in his death.

Gollum still tries to plant doubt in Frodo's mind about Sam.  He tells Frodo that Sam wants the ring for himself and will try and take it from Frodo.

The Witch King of Angmar gives the order to attack the city of Minas Tirith and kill everyone.  He will take care of Gandalf.

Sadly for Sam, he does indeed ask Frodo for the ring, but only because he wants to relieve Frodo of the burden of carrying it.  He just wants to help.  Frodo misinterprets this and sends Sam away.

King Theoden and company arrive at their encampment.  The King is disheartened to hear that he has less than half the number of men he wanted to help in the battle.

At the top of the hill, a road spooks the horses.  We are told that it leads to the door to the mountain, which is inhabited by the spirits of men who betrayed Gondor.  Only the King of Gondor can command them and ultimately bring their spirits to peace.

Late at night, Elrond comes to the camp and brings the newly forged sword to Aragorn.  Elrond tells Aragon to use it to command the dead army.

Taking Legolas and Gimli with him, Aragorn leaves the gathered troops and goes down the mountain road to where the dead are hiding.  "The way is shut.  It was made by those who were dead, and the dead keep it.  The way is shut."

Back in Gondor, legions of troops have been unleashed on Minas Tirith.  Gandalf is uncertain of the troops from Rohan will come.

Inside the mountain, Aragorn finds the King of the Dead.  They agree to fight for Aragorn in exchange for their souls to be at peace.

Gollum has abandoned Frodo at the top of the stairs in the lair of a very large spider named Shelob.  Gollum's plan is to let Shelob kill and eat Frodo, and when she's done, he'll sneak in and grab the ring for himself.

Shelob does in fact sting Frodo and wrap him in her spider's silk.  Sam, however, has followed them and saves the day by killing the giant spider.

Orcs, however, come and take Frodo into Mordor.  Sam, believing Frodo to be dead, has taken something very special.  He follows the Orcs at a distance.

Just in the nick of time, Theoden arrives at Minas Tirith with his army.  He gives a rousing speech, and the horsemen thunder towards Sauron's forces.

Things don't go well for Theoden.  He is struck down by the Witch King of Angmar.  Eowyn has disguised herself as a soldier and is quick to jump in and avenge her uncle.  When the Witch King calls her a fool because no man can kill him, she takes off her helmet and says, "I am no man", and plunges her sword into him, killing him instantly.

Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and the Dead Army arrive by ship and quickly kill off the remaining Orcs, providing a victory for Gondor and Minas Tirith.  Aragorn keeps his promise and gives peace to the souls of the Dead Army.

Frodo wakes up in a tower in Mordor.  Sam quickly saves him.  Frodo is very worried because he's not wearing the ring, and he tells Sam that the Orcs have it.  "Begging your pardon, but they haven't," says Sam as he hands the ring over to Frodo.  "Let's get you some clothes.  You can't go walking through Mordor in naught but your skin," Sam tells him.

Frodo and Sam disguise themselves as Orcs as they try to make their way to Mount Doom.  They must also be careful because the Eye of Sauron is constantly scanning the area.

Back at Minas Tirith, Aragorn tells Gandalf that they need to create a diversion to give Frodo and Sam a chance to get to Mount Doom without legions of Orcs around them.

When the Orc army moves off, Frodo and Sam shed their borrowed clothes as they walk across the desolate plains of Mordor.

The armies of Gondor and Rohan converge on the Black Gate of Mordor and engage the rest of Sauron's troops in battle.

Frodo collapses on the slopes of Mount Doom.  Sam volunteers to carry him on his back so they can reach the entrance.

Gollum, however, has followed them into Mordor and attacks Sam.  Frodo manages to get away and into the entrance to Mount Doom.

As he prepares to throw the ring into the fire, he decides that the ring is his, and he puts it on his finger and disappears.

Gollum manages to get the ring away from Frodo by biting off his finger.  The resulting fight knocks them off the ledge.  Gollum falls into the fire as does the ring.  Sam barely manages to save Frodo.

The mountain explodes with fire once the ring is destroyed and Sauron's life force is zapped.

Things in Mordor start to crumble very quickly.  The Gondor and Rohan armies are thrilled with the victory, but are concerned about Frodo and Sam's safety.

Gandalf rides up on some eagles to rescue them and bring them to a place where they can recover.

Later, a coronation is held for Aragorn at Minas Tirith.  Gandalf proclaims, "Now come the days of the King.  May they be blessed."

All of our heroes are in attendance.  They pay tribute to Aragorn as he passes amongst them.

There is one face in the crowd that Aragorn is surprised and delighted to see: Arwen.

They embrace and are finally united as a couple.

They lead the crowd in paying tribute to the four Hobbits, who are told that they bow to no one.

After Frodo writes his memoirs and collects Bilbo, he and Gandalf and the other Hobbits arrive at the shores of the sea, where the elves have accorded Frodo, Bilbo, and Gandalf a special honor: a place on the last ship to leave Middle Earth.  "I think I'm quite ready for another adventure," says Bilbo excitedly.  Frodo says a tearful goodbye to Sam, Merry, and Pippin.

Sam returns home to live his life with his wife and children.

Cast rundown:

   Elijah Wood.............................Frodo Baggins

   Sean Astin..............................Samwise Gamgee

   Cate Blanchett.........................Galadriel

   Orlando Bloom.........................Legolas

   Billy Boyd................................Peregrin "Pippin" Took

   Ian Holm.................................Bilbo Baggins

   Andy Serkis.............................Gollum

   Ian McKellan............................Gandalf

   Dominic Monaghan...................Merry Brandybuck

   Viggo Mortensen.......................Aragorn

   John Rhys-Davies.....................Gimli/Treebeard

   Liv Tyler...................................Arwen

   Hugo Weaving..........................Elrond

   Bernard Hill..............................Theoden, King of Rohan

   Miranda Otto............................Eowyn

   Karl Urban...............................Eomer

   David Wenham.........................Faramir

   John Noble...............................Denethor

   Sarah McLeod...........................Rosie Cotton

   Alexandra Astin.........................Elanor Gamgee

And that's all for The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King.  The film won the 2014 Best Picture Academy Award, becoming only the second film sequel to do so.  The film was nominated for a total of 11 Academy Awards, and won every category.  Look for Sean Astin's daughter, Alexandra, in the final scene of the film.  She played his daughter.

And director Peter Jackson also appears briefly in the film.  He plays the captain of the pirate ships later taken over by Aragorn and the Dead Army.

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