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360. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (#7)

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, this week joined by special guest Deirdre Molumby, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.

This time, to mark the 20th anniversary of its release, Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

After the Battle of Helm’s Deep, the forces of men rally at Minas Tirith for one final confrontation against Sauron. At the same time, Frodo and Sam press deeper into Mordor, guided by the mysterious Gollum. However, with the fate of Middle Earth hanging in the balance, this epic struggle may yet come down to the most unlikely of figures.

At time of recording, it was ranked 7th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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New Escapist Column! On the Whole “Lord of the Rings” as an Extended Ending…

I published a new column at The Escapist today. This week, to mark the twentieth anniversary of the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings, we’re taking a look back at the trilogy as a whole. We’ll be publishing three articles looking at the films, one each day. This is the third and final of the pieces.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is typically criticised for having too many endings. However, that is oddly appropriate. The entire trilogy is an extended ending. It’s a story about the end of a magical age, about how nothing lasts forever and how everything eventually fades into history. Frodo and his allies are fighting to save Middle-Earth from Sauron, but the films make it very clear that the world’s days are numbered.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.