The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2003 [TRUSTED DOWNLOAD]
Directed by Peter Jackson
Produced by Peter Jackson
Barrie M. Osborne
Fran Walsh
Written by Fran Walsh
Philippa Boyens
Peter Jackson
J. R. R. Tolkien (Novel)
Starring Elijah Wood
Ian McKellen
Liv Tyler
Viggo Mortensen
Sean Astin
Cate Blanchett
John Rhys-Davies
Bernard Hill
Christopher Lee
Billy Boyd
Dominic Monaghan
Orlando Bloom
Hugo Weaving
Miranda Otto
David Wenham
Brad Dourif
Karl Urban
John Noble
Andy Serkis
Ian Holm
Sean Bean
Music by Howard Shore
Cinematography Andrew Lesnie
Editing by Jamie Selkirk
Annie Collins
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release date(s) December 1, 2003 (2003-12-01)
(Wellington premiere)
December 17, 2003 (2003-12-17)
(United Kingdom)
(United States)
December 18, 2003 (2003-12-18)
(New Zealand)
Running time 200 minutes Theatric Edition
250 minutes Extended Edition
Country New Zealand
United States
United Kingdom[1]
Language English
Budget $94 million
Gross revenue $1,119,110,941[2]
Preceded by The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Followed by The Hobbit
Plot
The film begins with a flashback of how Sméagol recovered the One Ring, before forwarding to him as Gollum, taking Frodo and Sam to Minas Morgul. Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, Théoden and Éomer meet up with Merry, Pippin and Treebeard at Isengard, now under the Ents' control, where Gandalf concludes Saruman will pose no further threat. They also recover the palantír from the ruins. The group return to Edoras, where Theoden holds a feast in celebration of the victory at Helm's Deep. Pippin's curiosity gets the better of him at Edoras, and he looks into the palantír, where he sees a vision of a white tree burning, as well as being seen and mentally interrogated by Sauron, though Pippin tells him nothing regarding Frodo and the Ring. From this, Gandalf deduces Sauron is planning to attack Minas Tirith, and he rides off there with Pippin. In the meantime, Arwen, on her way to the Undying Lands, has a vision of her son by Aragorn and convinces Elrond to reforge the sword Narsil that cut the Ring from Sauron's finger long ago. Sam also overhears Gollum's treacherous plans to murder them and take the Ring for himself, but Frodo does not believe him. Gollum plays on this, trying to turn Frodo and Sam against each another.
Gandalf and Pippin arrive at Minas Tirith to find the steward Denethor mourning over Boromir, and Pippin swears loyalty to him, as he owes Boromir a life debt for his heroic actions at Amon Hen. Gandalf warns Sauron is now ready to strike and urges Denethor to call Rohan for aid. Denethor refuses, knowing Aragorn is there, and fearing Aragorn and Gandalf plan to depose him. That night, Gandalf and Pippin witness a pillar of green fire rise from Minas Morgul, where the Witch-king sends off his army, heralding the start of the war. Frodo, Sam and Gollum also begin climbing the stairs nearby. The Morgul army, led by the Nazgûl, drives the Gondorians out of Osgiliath. Denethor, who has no love for his younger son, orders him out on a doomed ride to reclaim the city. Faramir and his brave knights are seemingly killed by the masses of Orcs waiting in the ruined city. In the meantime, Gollum convinces Frodo to send Sam home on the belief he wants the Ring. Fortunately, Pippin has begun the long line of beacon signals to Edoras, where Theoden and Aragorn lead the Rohirrim to Dunharrow for a muster. At Dunharrow, Legolas and Gimli learn the legend of the haunted mountain Dwimorberg, which overlooks the camp, from Eomer. Aragorn also meets Elrond, who informs him of what Arwen has done and warns him they are outnumbered by Sauron's army. Elrond presents Aragorn with the newly reforged Andúril and tells him to brave the Paths of the Dead, where he may acquire the help of the cursed Army of the Dead, who owe allegiance to the Heir of Isildur. Éowyn tries to convince him not to go, confessing her love for him, but Aragorn -knowing Arwen has chosen her love for him over the immortal life of the elves- presses on. Together with Legolas and Gimli, Aragorn gains the loyalty of the King of the Dead and his men. The trio then capture the ships of the Corsairs of Umbar, who Sauron had intended to launch a surprise attack on Minas Tirith. At Dunharrow, Théoden rides off to war with over 6,000 Riders, unaware Éowyn and Merry are part of the army too.
The Morgul army begins the siege of Minas Tirith, and many missiles are traded between Orc catapults and Gondorian trebuchets, whilst the Witch-king and the other Ringwraiths on their Fell Beasts wreak havoc on the city. In the middle night, they break into the city using the enormous battering ram Grond, and the defenders are forced to retreat as legions of Orcs, Trolls, and worse swarm into the city. At the same time Gollum betrays Frodo to the monstrous spider Shelob, but Sam returns to fight her off. Sam believes Frodo is dead and takes the One Ring, planning to complete the quest, but when Orcs from the Tower of Cirith Ungol take Frodo, he overhears that he is still alive. At Minas Tirith, Denethor falls into madness and prepares a pyre for him and the unconscious Faramir. Pippin warns Gandalf and together, they manage to save Faramir, though Denethor perishes, burning himself alive. With much of the lower city aflame, Orcs advancing, and mounting losses, the Gondorians appear to be finished. As the sun rises, however, Theoden and the Rohirrim arrive and charge into the Orcs, trampling many of them underfoot and making an enormous dent in the besiegers' numbers. As the Orcs retreat away from Minas Tirith, Haradrim reinforcements, including huge numbers of Mûmakil and the Witch-king, arrive to engage them, and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields begins. The Rohirrim fight bravely in the face of the Haradrim and Orcs, but risk being destroyed before the Gondorians can move out from the city and aid them. In the midst of the fight, the Witch-king swoops down upon King Theoden, crushing him underneath his horse. Meanwhile, the Rohirrim are facing significant losses at the hands of the Mumakil when Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and the Dead finally arrive on the captured Corsair ships and counter-attack, routing the Orcs and Mûmakil, whilst Éowyn and Merry kill the Witch-king. The Gondorians fighting in Minas Tirith are freed, and the Rohirrim are able to escape annihilation. Théoden passes away, and Aragorn holds the Dead Army's oath fulfilled, freeing them from their curse.
Sam rescues Frodo from the tower, mostly empty following a fight amongst the Orc garrison over the mithril shirt, and they begin the long trek to Mount Doom. Gandalf realizes that over 10,000 Orcs stand on the road between Cirith Ungol and Mount Doom, that would make Frodo's journey impossible. Aragorn leads all the men who survived the battle to the Black Gate to distract Sauron and to call out his armies. After a torturous journey through Mordor, Sam carries Frodo up to Mount Doom but Gollum attacks them, just as the Men of the West furiously battle the Orcs. Frodo, at the Crack of Doom, succumbs to the Ring's power. However, Gollum, who had secretly followed them, steals the Ring by biting off Frodo's finger that held the ring. They both fight to get it back and fall off the precipice. Frodo grabs the ledge but Gollum and the Ring fall into the pools of lava below. Sam rescues Frodo and the Ring is destroyed. The Tower of Barad-dûr collapses, whilst Sauron, finally defeated, fades into nothing. The destruction of his form creates an immense shockwave that kills most of the Orcs; the rest perish as the whole of Mordor collapses into a gaping chasm, leaving the men of the West unharmed.
Frodo and Sam are stranded until Gandalf arrives with the Eagles, and they awake in Minas Tirith, reuniting with their friends at long last. Aragorn is crowned King, heralding the new age of peace, and is reunited with Arwen. When Aragorn meets the hobbits who bow before him, he stops them and says " You bow to no one". He and the whole of Minas Tirith bow to the Hobbits in honor of their heroics. The hobbits return home to the Shire, where Sam marries Rosie. But Frodo is dealing with the psychological trauma of being the Ring-bearer, and also pain and illness on the anniversary of his wounds, and he leaves Middle-earth with Gandalf, Bilbo, Elrond, Celeborn and Galadriel at the Grey Havens, leaving his account of the story to Sam, who peacefully continues his family life.
