News culture Lord of the Rings: 20 years after the release of The Return of the King, here is THE detail that escaped everyone
Published on 02/01/2023 at 15:47
You thought you knew everything about the Lords of the Rings saga, but this detail of The Return of the King may have escaped you. Almost twenty years after its release, here is a new secret from Peter Jackson’s film.
The Return of the King, a monument of cinema
The third installment of The Lord of the Rings saga, The Return of the King, is entering its twentieth year. A good age for a film that has deeply marked the world of fantasy and the cinematographic landscape. From the top of its 3 hours 20 (4 hours 20 for the long version), it came to conclude a captivating epic with memorable speeches and epic battles, and even allowed itself to upset the whole industry to the passable. Because if we talk about figures and box office, The Return of the King simply breaks all records. With its 1.146 billion dollars in receipts in the world, it becomes the second biggest success of the world box office, just behind the famous Titanic (place lost since). A great feat for the adaptation of the stories of JRR Tolkien, not really very accessible at first glance.
Sauron’s armies attacked Minas Tirith, the capital of Gondor. Never has this once mighty kingdom needed its king so much. But will Aragorn find in him the will to fulfill his destiny? As Gandalf struggles to support the broken forces of Gondor, Théoden urges the warriors of Rohan to join the fight. But despite their courage and loyalty, the forces of Men are not strong enough to fight against the countless legions of enemies that descend on the kingdom… Each victory is paid for with immense sacrifices. Despite its losses, the Fellowship throws itself into the battle for life, its members doing everything to divert Sauron’s attention in order to give Frodo a chance to complete his quest. Traveling through enemy lands, the latter must rely on Sam and Gollum, while the Ring continues to tempt him…
Even better : the film was nominated for 11 different categories at the 2004 Oscars. It won in all of them. This includes awards for Best Director, Best Film Score, Best Costume Design and Best Film. This time around, it matches Titanic, but also Ben-Hur, which also won 11 awards at an Oscars. All three remain to this day the best-rewarded films of the American ceremony. After all these years, the greatness of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is well established. And despite the passage of time, it still has some little surprises in store for us.
Easter egg par-ci, easter egg par-là
If you are a bit interested in the Lord of the Rings saga, you certainly know that its films are stuffed with easter eggs of all kinds. Did you know for example that Peter Jackson made several cameos in his films, notably in the village of Bree and during the battle of the Pelennor Fields. Her children also make an appearance in each of the films in the trilogy. But that’s not all ! Some details also connect the different opuses. This is particularly the case of one of them, discreet but yet symbolically very important, pointed out by one of our colleagues from Allociné.
To find it, launch The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and press the “pause” button at 2 hours, 55 minutes and 28 seconds (3 hours, 44 minutes and 45 seconds if you opt for the long version). You will then see Aragorn being crowned king following the final defeat of the terrible Sauron. As he advances to find Arwen, his beloved, an element on his breastplate is revealed. As you can imagine, the latter is not trivial. Aragorn indeed wears the same piece of armor as his ancestor Elendil that we see during the prologue of The Fellowship of the Ring. The latter had been defeated by Sauron and his son Isildur had subsequently attempted to avenge his death. Aragorn thus succeeded where his ancestor failed. With his reign, the Free Peoples can finally aspire to the peace of yesteryear.
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