The extended edition of The Return of the King is in theaters for its 20th anniversary and there are still a few days for you to see it in theaters if you’d like! If you haven’t yet, click the following link to check to see where it's playing near you:
I went a few days ago and loved the experience of seeing it on the big screen once again! Though I felt a little like Bilbo—thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread—thinking about it already being twenty years since then! One particular moment of the screening stands out to me and inspired a question I wanted to ask you all:
Question for you all: what was your favorite, funniest, or just most memorable moviegoing experience?
One thing I'm confused by is why are they reissuing ROTK now? I mean, the movie was released around Christmas 2003. It's still over half a year until the actual anniversary.
That's a great question...it may have something to do with theaters being a lot busier during the holiday season? I'm not actually sure. But it's nice because the events of The Return of the King occur in March, so seeing it in theaters in April is an interesting alignment and pretty fitting.
The release schedule being busy might be on point. I mean, WB has some big titles coming out like Aquaman 2. Still though, it's weird to celebrate a 20th anniversary this early. I'd understand if they did a Two Towers re-release, esp. given that the EE came out in August or maybe saved King for next Spring.
Saw Return of the King today with my 13 y/o daughter who just happened to finish the book 2 days ago. Didn’t know it was playing in theater, such wonderful timing! During the Grond battering ram scene a guy in our row hit his seat to the beat of “Grond! Grond!” It made it feel like there was an actual drum beating, pretty cool special effects 😅.
It always cracks me up when, after Legolas puts in all that effort to down that Mumakil, it shows the the Oathbreakers in the background overrunning one in like 2 seconds lol. I’m just young enough that I wasn’t able to see any of them in theaters, originally, so this was actually my first time seeing any of them on the big screen. Such a delightful time!
I was a tad young for Lord of the Rings when they came out in theaters, so I missed the theatrical releases of all three movies. And so, when the Hobbit Trilogy came out, I felt like I was getting to participate in something dear to me that I had missed the first time around. Even though the Hobbit films aren't nearly as good as the Lord of the Rings films, it was still special!
Return of the King was actually the first LotR movie I saw. I was 11 and have just read the Hobbit 13 times in a row. My parents were taking my older brother to see RotK and I begged them to take me. It was super close to the premiere, so we got tickets in the second row and the whole movie my mum had to explain to me what is going on and who all these people are. I was so happy to actually see Bilbo at the end 😅
There was one scene that stayed on with me and often quoted it when fighting with my brothers “I am no MAN!” 🤺
I was watching previews before some movie, and there was an ad for a re-showing of Titanic. When Rose said, “I’ll never let go, Jack,” one patron yelled “Liar!”
I can’t narrow my filmgoing experiences down to a single best or most memorable, but one standout is A Room With a View with Helena Bonham Carter. It’s beautiful to look at, funny, well-acted, and well-constructed.
One thing I'm confused by is why are they reissuing ROTK now? I mean, the movie was released around Christmas 2003. It's still over half a year until the actual anniversary.
That's a great question...it may have something to do with theaters being a lot busier during the holiday season? I'm not actually sure. But it's nice because the events of The Return of the King occur in March, so seeing it in theaters in April is an interesting alignment and pretty fitting.
The release schedule being busy might be on point. I mean, WB has some big titles coming out like Aquaman 2. Still though, it's weird to celebrate a 20th anniversary this early. I'd understand if they did a Two Towers re-release, esp. given that the EE came out in August or maybe saved King for next Spring.
Maybe that’s when the teaser trailer for The Rings is Power season 2 drops and they don’t want to overshadow. 😂
Saw Return of the King today with my 13 y/o daughter who just happened to finish the book 2 days ago. Didn’t know it was playing in theater, such wonderful timing! During the Grond battering ram scene a guy in our row hit his seat to the beat of “Grond! Grond!” It made it feel like there was an actual drum beating, pretty cool special effects 😅.
Wow, that's wonderful timing! And that sounds like quite the "immersive" experience for that scene lol
It always cracks me up when, after Legolas puts in all that effort to down that Mumakil, it shows the the Oathbreakers in the background overrunning one in like 2 seconds lol. I’m just young enough that I wasn’t able to see any of them in theaters, originally, so this was actually my first time seeing any of them on the big screen. Such a delightful time!
I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one who always found that hilarious!
Oh yeah, definitely hilarious and stood out to me on this watch in the theaters too 😂
So glad you got to experience it on the big screen for the first time!
I was a tad young for Lord of the Rings when they came out in theaters, so I missed the theatrical releases of all three movies. And so, when the Hobbit Trilogy came out, I felt like I was getting to participate in something dear to me that I had missed the first time around. Even though the Hobbit films aren't nearly as good as the Lord of the Rings films, it was still special!
Return of the King was actually the first LotR movie I saw. I was 11 and have just read the Hobbit 13 times in a row. My parents were taking my older brother to see RotK and I begged them to take me. It was super close to the premiere, so we got tickets in the second row and the whole movie my mum had to explain to me what is going on and who all these people are. I was so happy to actually see Bilbo at the end 😅
There was one scene that stayed on with me and often quoted it when fighting with my brothers “I am no MAN!” 🤺
Aw I love this story haha. Such a great memory!
I was watching previews before some movie, and there was an ad for a re-showing of Titanic. When Rose said, “I’ll never let go, Jack,” one patron yelled “Liar!”
hahaha. Get 'em!
I can’t narrow my filmgoing experiences down to a single best or most memorable, but one standout is A Room With a View with Helena Bonham Carter. It’s beautiful to look at, funny, well-acted, and well-constructed.