The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron's army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.
Trailer
Director
Peter Jackson
Studio
N/A
Release
17 Dec 2003
Runtime
201 min
Genres
Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Cast & Characters
Elijah Wood
Viggo Mortensen
Ian McKellen
Did You Know?
Critical Assessment
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King holds 9.0/10 on IMDb (2,161,991 votes), 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, 94/100 on Metacritic.
Not enough independent critic/audience score breakdown available.
Ratings as of 2026-07-30
AI Verdict
AI-generatedBased on aggregated scores (9.0/10 on IMDb (2,161,991 votes), 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, 94/100 on Metacritic), this is a data-driven snapshot rather than an editorial take.
Fan & Critic Buzz
The movie received mixed reviews from critics, with some praising its epic conclusion to the trilogy while others found it too long or reliant on CGI. The film's visuals were widely praised, but some reviewers felt that certain scenes, such as "looks of love," were overly sentimental. Despite this, many agreed that the final installment was a fitting end to the classic trilogy and a testament to Peter Jackson's direction.
Reviews
And so all good things come to an end. For three years in a row, Peter Jackson has banished our winter blues with the individual instalments of his Tolkien trilogy, effectively shifting the focus of our cinematic excitement from the summer months to the end of the year. But now t…
NeoBrowser · 10/10Too much CGI, redundancy, clichés and drawn out “looks of love” for my tastes. RELEASED 2003 and directed by Peter Jackson, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” adapts the third part of JRR Tolkien’s popular fantasy trilogy about adventures on Middle-Earth: Frodo (Elij…
Wuchak · 5/10Great finale to a great trilogy. The action and battle sequences were amazing and even though I've seen this a few times over the years, still thrilling to the end. I didn't even mind the multiple endings as I had in the past, nice each character got their due. **4.75/5**
JPV852 · 10/10An outstanding end to the trilogy. I expected a lot from <em>'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'</em> so I am delighted to see it produce on so many levels. I, funnily enough, wouldn't actually say it's necessarily the most perfect execution - what with the plot coinc…
r96sk · 10/10As an avid fan of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings from long before New Line announced this movie "trilogy," I must say all three films were fairly large disappointments. Now, mind you, I am not your usual, "The book is better" movie reviewer. But it is almost like Peter Jackson w…
A fitting end to a classic trilogy. Frodo, Samwise, and Gollum journey through a Hell on what is called "Middle Earth", while Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas go to war. King Theoden must decide whether to help those who would not help him. Merry wants to war, but is too smal…
drystyx · 10/10I've just seen this on the big screen for the first time since I saw it at London's sadly now long-gone Odeon at Marble Arch, which - at the time - boasted the biggest screen in the UK, and it has lost little of it's magic. Continuing with the interwoven tales of "Frodo", "Sam" a…
CinemaSerf · 8/10100/100 As the war for middle-earth grows to unbearable levels, Frodo and Sam's desperate attempts to get to Mount Doom and destroy the ring faces horrific resistance both externally and internally. Quite simply the best fantasy film ever made and, overall, one of the finest film…
Dr Nostromo · 10/10
From the trailer's comments
Lotr is my top 1 movie now
@jedicrucen2878 · 10 likes😍 20 years today!! And the same love and devotion! Just needed to say it! To Peter, Fran & Philippa, to the wonderful cast and crew, to everyone involved in the making of these films, to New Zealand: Thank you for bringing Middle Earth to life!! Hannon le! 🙏 🤗🤗🤗👏👏👏😃👍
@Escudera_de_Roble · 1 likesOne BEST movies ever .
@josemariagullon · 2 likesAll these people who don't know who or what Sauron is...
@anthemlog · 8 likes240p really?
@GanjaLibre · 7 likesgonna be cool
@formaline_brk · 10 likesLove it.
@BeowulfandCoffee · 2 likesAnd to think that this film is one of the most awarded films in the history of the Oscars. Considering the 11 Oscars it won (including Best Director and Best Picture). Equaling the number of awards for the films Titanic and Ben-Hur.
@m.k.a.n.w. · 0 likes