The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

What’s it about?

As Frodo and Sam approach Mount Doom with the One Ring, Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men to war against Sauron’s orc army, in an attempt to draw his gaze from the two Hobbits.

The facts

• Directed by Peter Jackson
• English language
• Runtime: 201 minutes
• Adapted from novels written by J.R.R Tolkien
• Filmed entirely in Aotearoa New Zealand, throughout 150 different locations.
• Grossed over $1.1 billion, became one of the highest-grossing films of its time, and earned numerous awards, including a Grammy for Best Cinematography, and Oscars for Best Sound Editing and Visual Effects.

Why did it get this rating?

This film was cross-rated by the Film and Video Labelling Body. You can find out more about cross-rating here.

Violence

The film contains various large-scale battles involving death and injury.

Some of the strongest moments include: 

• Two friends wrestle, biting and shoving each other until one eventually chokes the other to death.
• In the aftermath of a battle, hundreds of corpses are seen, one of which lies with its arm detached and lying next to him with blood covering the ground (this is shown for about a second).
• The orc army catapults human heads into the castle in which women and children are hiding. We see slight closeups of the severed necks and bloodied heads.
• A character attempts to burn himself and someone else to death. One is saved, however the other catches on fire and is driven by his severe pain to jump off a castle to his death.
• A character bites off someone’s finger. Though you don’t see the bite occur, a few seconds later you can see the victim's hand covered in blood as he screams in pain.

Frightening & Intense Scenes

• A character undergoes a frightening transformation, giving them an unsettling appearance and voice.
• A giant spider chases and stabs a main character with its stinger, causing his mouth to froth up, and wraps him up in a cobweb. The sequence includes a few jump scares.
• One character encounters an army of ghost soldiers. Though this may scare some viewers, the ghosts end up helping the heroes.
• Characters are seen descending into madness or insanity.
• The violent, long battle scenes are unsettling as the heroes are constantly at risk of death or serious injury.

Animal Cruelty

Large CGI elephants are used as war vehicles with spikes attached to their tusks and are shot with tens of arrows in the legs and body to stop their riders from causing chaos. In one scene, a main character shoots three arrows into the top of an elephant's head, however, we do not see the arrows go in.

Horses and their riders are stomped by these large elephants and kicked high into the air, though these scenes are not graphic.

The use of CGI for the animals reduces the impact of these scenes. 

When content stays with you:

We all have our boundaries, and it’s completely okay if something you’ve watched is weighing on your mind. If certain content lingers with you, consider having a chat with friends or whānau to debrief about what you’ve just seen. But if you’re still feeling affected, please reach out to any of the following helplines for support.

• 1737
• Safe to talk
• Lifeline
• Youthline

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?
• Brain development – how it works, why it matters
• Can my child watch The Rings of Power? | Classification Office