The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Rating: 10/10 (24 February 2005)

The third and final part of J.R.R. Tolkien's most celebrated trilogy is by far the best of the three films. Oscar winning director Peter Jackson has touched hearts and created many emotions in this outstanding ending to the film. Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) are near to Mordor, but are heading for danger by the devilish Gollum/Sméagol (Andy Serkis), the most convincing CGI character in film. White wizard Gandalf (BAFTA nominated Sir Ian McKellen), Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) have found Merry (Dominic Monaghan, now in TV's Lost) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) and are all preparing for war against Mordors many terrifying Orcs and other beasts. I can admit the ending does drag on with teary moments, but it still manages to make me cry. Also starring Liv Tyler as Arwen, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Hugo Weaving as Elrond, Bernard Hill as Theoden, Sir Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins and Sean Bean as Boromir (flashback), no Sir Christopher Lee (at least not in the cinema version). This film won 11 well deserved Academy Awards (all nominated), equalling Ben-Hur and Titanic. These were Best Sound Mixing, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Makeup, Best Music for the powerful score by Howard Shore, Best Song for Annie Lennox's fantastic "Into the West" (also won the Golden Globe), Best Visual Effects, Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture, it won the BAFTAs for the Audience Award, Best Special Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film, and it was nominated for the Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Make Up/Hair, Best Production Design, Best Sound and the David Lean Award for Direction, and it won the Golden Globes (all nominated) for Best Motion Picture - Drama and Best Original Score. Cate Blanchett was number 37 on The 100 Greatest Movie Stars, Sir Ian McKellen was number 4 on The 50 Greatest British Actors, and he was number 5 on Britain's Finest Actors, the film was number 19 on The Ultimate Film, and as part of the trilogy, all three films were number 11 on The 100 Greatest Family Films. Outstanding!