The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by J.R.R Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit but eventually developed into a much larger work. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King was the third and final installment of the trilogy and  is what we are going to discuss in this article.

If you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t seen the film I will give you a little glimpse into it, though likely not going it any justice! It begins with Gandalf and Pippin (yes, the Hobbit) arriving at Minas Tirith which is in the kingdom of Gondor. They are there to  deliver the news to Denethor, who is the Lord and Steward of Gondor, that Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor, is planning an attack on his city. Pippin goes on to enter the service of the Steward as his way to repay a debt that he owes to Boromir. Hope that makes sense!

The final instalment of this trilogy was the second film to break the one-billion-dollar barrier and won a total of 11 Oscars, including "Best Picture" and "Best Director making it by far one of the best known and coveted films ever.

The story had a profound and wide-ranging impact on popular culture and has pretty much become a phenonmenon! "Frodo Lives!" and "Gandalf for President" were two phrases that became hugely popular among American Tolkien fans and the slogans could be found on everything from T-shirts to washroom walls!. Over 100 million copies of the books have been sold around the world and it has been translated into 40 languages!

Released on 17 December 2003, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King became one of the most critically acclaimed films and greatest box-office successes of all time. It also won the Academy Award for Best Picture, the only time in history a fantasy film has done so. It is the 2nd highest-grossing movie of all time, grossing $1.12 billion worldwide, and it is the 49th most successful in North America. The Lord of the Rings film trilogy is unusual in that it is, to date, the only one whose separate instalments were written and then shot simultaneously and the Return of the King contains 1,488 visual effect shots, nearly 3 times the number of the first film, and almost 2 times the number of the second film The world premiere was held in Wellington's Embassy Theatre, on 1 December 2003, and was attended by the director and many of the stars. It was estimated that over 100,000 people lined the streets, more than a quarter of the city's population

The film also ended up winning four Golden Globes; two of which included Best Picture for Drama and Best Director. As well they won five BAFTAs, two MTV Movie Awards, two Grammies, nine Saturn Awards, The Hugo Award and finally, the Best Picture award from the  New York Film Critics Circle which makes it to date, the most honoured fantasy film in history and one that we will love and talk about for years to come!