The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). Photofest.
(Peter Jackson, New Zealand/US 2003, 201 min., 35mm)
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. The conclusion of Peter Jackson’s epic adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s trilogy won all eleven Academy Awards for which it was nominated, including becoming the first fantasy film to win Best Picture. The Return of the King details the culmination of Frodo Baggins’s perilous journey to Mordor to destroy the One Ring and thwart Sauron’s plans of world domination. Members of The Fellowship of the Ring reunite in heroic battle for the salvation of Middle Earth. Shot back-to-back and released in three consecutive years, The Lord of the Rings paved the way for fantasy and speculative fiction in the modern blockbuster era.