In many ways grander in scale than the first two installments of the trilogy.

Rating: 10/10 (5 July 2010)

The hobbits approach the slopes of Mount Doom, preparing to dispose of the cursed Ring, while the forces of good and evil are rallied in anticipation of the ultimate battle. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture, the only time in history a fantasy film has done so.
The Return Of The King is the longest of the three films, which suffers from having to cut between disparate story strands, and - in its final half-hour - stacks up endings one after the other, like jet planes waiting to land, the director visibly reluctant to let these characters go. Most audiences will forgive Peter Jackson for that, for this is a fitting conclusion to a series of films made with tremendous artistry and affection for their subject; thrilling spectacle is underscored with palpable human drama, and it finally becomes clear why J.R.R. Tolkien's books continue to ring such bells so loudly in the lives of so many.