Fans of both the Lord of the Rings movies and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien are about to have to clear their calendars this week, because here in a few days, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King will be returning to theaters. Peter Jackson's epic conclusion to his massive, groundbreaking trilogy was not only a game changer for the world of fantasy cinema, but it also revolutionized movies in every way. This series, and Return specifically, showcases everything that movies are capable of. They can throw down with massive battles and also hit you right in the feels with little character moments, all while doing so better than 99% of other releases. It's a pretty huge commitment, but if you have the time, catching this film when it rereleases later this week on the biggest screen possible is a must.
What Is 'Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' About?
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was released in 2003 and is the third and final film in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. It stars Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, and a thousand other people, capping off Frodo Baggins and the Fellowship's journey to destroy the one ring. This third entry swept up the entirety of pop culture, grossed over a billion dollars (before that became a regular occurrence), and ran home with every Oscar that it was nominated for — including Best Picture. The on-screen world of Middle Earth would be revisited in Jackson's Hobbit trilogy, as well as the recent Amazon-produced The Rings of Power TV show. While Tolkien's works would continue to be brought to the screen over the years, not since Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King has that magic quite been captured in the same way, or to the same degree of acclaim.
Why 'Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' Is Worth Seeing in Theaters
In recent years, there's been a long, tiresome debate about the difference between seeing movies at home versus catching them in theaters. This dumpster fire of a debate was made even bigger when COVID kept everyone indoors for a few years. Some big tent pole films like No Time to Die and Black Widow were pretty much immediately delayed in the early stages of the pandemic, but most low and mid-budget movies were having to find a new home. The point is, Hollywood couldn't delay every single movie that they were planning on releasing in 2020 and 2021. For a while there, studios and distribution companies had no choice but to send their films to streaming services like Amazon, Disney+, and Netflix. There was even a strategy put in place by distributors that had movies, big-budget ones too, going straight to streaming services on the same day that they hit theaters. It was a wild thing opening up HBO Max and seeing a new Mortal Kombat movie or Godzilla vs Kong just thrown up on the service, available to watch from home on the same day that I could finally go check one of these out in theaters.
With the world getting more and more used to this, an already settling idea that there wasn't too much of a difference in catching a movie at home instead of the theater was becoming even more ingrained in our brains. By and large, this is an objective debate. If someone prefers watching a movie at home, that's cool. That's their choice. One thing that isn't debatable is the fact that movies make the bulk of their money back at the box office, so going out and paying for tickets to the types of movies you want to see is important. Studios take note of this and continue making the types of movies that make the most money. That's a bit of an irrelevant aspect when it comes to selling someone on going out to catch the upcoming Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King rerelease — a movie that came out 20 years ago, grossed over a billion dollars, and changed cinema forever. That being said, there are things about the theatrical experience that are completely and totally better than when you watch movies at home. These aspects are not up for debate, they're a fact.
'Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' Is a Technical Marvel
If there was ever a movie to see on the big screen, it would be Return of the King. The word "epic" gets thrown around a lot these days, but this movie truly is that in every sense (and even that barely scratches the surface). Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies are massive, gargantuan pictures. Every landscape is shot as wide as possible, there are battles made up by an ocean of soldiers, and just about every type of geographic environment can be seen. It doesn't get bigger than this. Seeing these movies on your TV at home doesn't make them feel small, but it really is not the same experience. You have to see everything that Jackson has to offer on the biggest screen available. There's a difference between seeing hobbits climb Mount Doom, or the giant spider Shelob, on your Roku TV across the room from you, and seeing these things on a screen that's 60 feet wide. With a huge, fantasy-adventure movie like this, it's important to be immersed and see everything in the biggest way.
Speaking of immersion, the Lord of the Rings trilogy just sounds incredible, literally. Everything about the sound effects and sound design in these movies is made incredibly weighty. The clanging of swords, battle cries, volcano eruptions, the tumbling of rocks down mountainsides, flying arrows, and even the whispering, all resonate deeply and will rattle you to your core. You feel every bit of what happens and, in doing so, get lost in the world. This is only helped by Howard Shore's incredible score. His compositions feel just as monstrous as a giant army of orcs, as quaint as saying goodbye to an old friend, and as celebratory as a long-awaited victory. Why not experience the sounds of Middle Earth and Shore's compositions through the nicest speakers possible, and with the volume cranked way up? You might have a pretty good home speaker setup, but you can't convince anyone it's better than a movie theater's.
Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies are also just visually immaculate. The look of Middle Earth and the beings that inhabit it had years of painstaking work put in by Jackson and his army of costume designers, set designers, prop makers, and other equally important craftspeople. Every element of the world is made alive, from suits of armor being designed down to their smallest link of chain mail to the tiniest engravings and carvings. Hearing this might sound like overkill if you're used to watching these movies on the small screen, but they're almost all on blast if you see the film in a theater. These minute details don't get lost in tiny pixels, they're blown up huge and made to be easily seen. Of course, the Lord of the Rings movies are massive, epic pieces of art, but it isn't just the huge battles that make them feel this way. Jackson's intent on the little details of the world is what makes them epic.
'Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' Has Heart
A movie can be technically amazing in every way and still end up a shiny turd. Thankfully, Return of the King delivers years of emotional investment by the truckload. This trilogy-capper is a crowd pleaser in every way, so why not see it with a huge crowd? Not that you want the crowd to be obnoxiously reactive, but when something exciting, scary, funny, or sad happens and you're sitting in a room full of people, emotions become infectious. Similarly, imagine trying to convince somebody that seeing the final battle of Avengers: Endgame would be just as effective as seeing it from the "comfort of your own home". That's just wrong! Yes, the movie can still be great, but these moments are made even better when you're surrounded by people who care just like you do. If you liked how Endgame made you feel while watching it in a theater, Return of the King will be the same way. It's full of these moments, and on top of that, it's just a better movie!
Watch 'Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' Without Distraction
One of the easiest excuses for catching a movie in the theater is that, in doing so, you are free of distractions. When watching a movie at home, it's easy to want to walk away for a minute and grab something from the kitchen, or pull your phone out and reply to a couple of texts. You might have a couple of lights on in the room too, which could lead to you looking around occasionally and fixating on something else other than the screen, which by the way, isn't really taking up much of your eyesight. In the theater, you can't do these things. Here, a massive screen takes up your entire view, the lights are out, you can't (shouldn't!) pull out your phone, and if you want anything to eat, you have to walk all the way to the lobby. These rooms are designed to keep your eyes on the screen, not to leave you easily distracted.
Movie fans should be celebrating with the incredible The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King coming back to theaters this month. It's a contender for one of the biggest movies ever made, not just in a popular sense, but in its actual contents. Movies rarely ever look this big or good, sound this good, pay as close attention to the details of their world, or rile up a crowd as well as Return does. If you have the chance to catch it this week, make sure you do. Rarely ever does a movie come along that calls for the theatrical experience like this one does. Watching an epic movie at home can be great, but catching the same movie in a theater is unlike anything else.