7. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

If you are a fan of fantasy films then you should indulge in the Lord of the Rings (LOTR): the Return of the King (2003). The third instalment of the LOTR trilogy, is based on the book by the same name authored by J. R. R. Tolkien between 1937 and 1949. The film superbly complements the book and I would advise watching the Return of the King before reading the book so you can follow the narrative better. Peter Jackson directed the Return of the King and Fran Walsh did the screenplay. We see our high fantasy epic star: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen and Ian McKellen and plenty more distinguished actors. IMDb has recorded that the budget for this film was a whopping $94m and grossed an even more impressive $1.142bn globally.

This film got the recognition it deserves. The trilogy shares the record for being the film series nominated for the most awards in Academy Award history. The LOTR films beat the Godfather trilogy’s 28 nominations and got 30 nominations for awards, sharing a tie with the Star Wars franchise. The release of the Return of the King signifies the second time in history that a franchise’s third film had been nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, just behind the Godfather Part III. More significantly, it was the only time a third movie had won the Best Picture Oscar.

The film is so good because of how loyally it stuck to the novel and the conventions of the fantasy genre. The story is primarily a quest and engages in epic battles between good and evil. The use of magic is prevalent throughout the story and imaginative original creatures are incorporated into the tale. Not to mention, Tolkien created more than one entire language to add depth to the world he conjured and this had been included in the film (with subtitles for us to follow, if you happen to not be fluent in any of the fantastical languages). Return of the King transcends the limits of human possibility and is appealing to both children and adults alike.

The film is revolutionary because it took risks. A key character, Gollum, was a complete CGI creation, this bold move was rewarded with the character having lots of personality. However, the film has its faults. It went a bit over the top with the CGI concerning Legolas; while this character is designed to be seen as supernatural his abilities generated by CGI are so supernatural that they are distracting for the audience. Jackson played a key role in pioneering the computer’s AI for the thousands of soldiers that participated in the battles from the Rohirrim to the Orcs. However, they mostly looked the same, so the effect of having armies moving en masse was lost.

These factors considered, I am compelled to award this masterpiece with the score of 76, because of how well the film works as an epic finale.

Judging Criteria

SCRIPTURAL INTEGRATION - 20 points: 14

STORY/SCREENPLAY - 10 points: 10

DIRECTOR - 10 points:7

CINEMATOGRAPHY - 10 points:7.5

EDITOR - 10 points:6.5

PRODUCTION DESIGN - 10 points:8

ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE or SCORE EFFECTIVENESS (if not original) - 10 points: 8

SOUND DESIGN - 10 points:7

ACTING - 10 points: 8

TOTAL SCORE 100 POINTS. : 76