Middle-Earth On Film: A Visual History

9. The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003)

The highest grossing Middle-Earth movie and one of the best regarded, by The Return Of The King is was clear Tolkien's work was no longer the reserve of high-fantasy obsessives.

Fantasy is a genre the Academy are all but allergic to. Which makes The Return Of The King's Oscar success (it won all eleven of its nominated awards, matching Titanic and Ben-Hur as the most honoured movies) all the more incredible.