The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Monstrous spiders, dragon-aided epic battles, endangered hobbits and final farewells ... the finale of the Lord of the Rings trilogy boldly upped the ante. Although the first two films had excited viewers, critics and accountants, Return of the King sealed Peter Jackson's place in movie legend. Reviewers praised it with gusto and the film won a staggering 11 Oscars, a total matched only by Titanic and Ben-Hur. Return anointed a Hollywood empire in the Wellington suburb of Miramar. The box office figures weren't half bad, and nor was the effect on New Zealand tourism.

We come to it, at last. The great battle of our time.

– Gandalf (Ian McKellen)

Key Cast & Crew

Peter Jackson

Director, Producer, Writer

Barrie M Osborne

Producer

Fran Walsh

Producer, Writer

Philippa Boyens

Writer

John Noble

As: Denethor

John Bach

As: Madril