The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King parents guide

Heads up on brutal violence. That is past what the PG-13 on the box suggests. Beyond that, no sex or nudity and mild language.

Our estimate: fine from about 16, higher than the PG-13 suggests, because of the violence.

Scare

Mildly scary

A few tense or eerie moments.

Jump scares

A couple

One or two sudden jolts.

Gore

Light gore

Some blood or injury, briefly.

Violence

Brutal violence

Our top level for violence.

Sex and nudity

None noted

Language

Mild

Mild words like damn, hell or crap.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

Three questions

Is The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King scary?

Only a little. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King has a few tense moments, nothing that follows you to bed.

How gory is The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King?

Light gore and brutal violence.

What is The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King rated, and is it OK for kids?

Rated PG-13. Expect brutal violence, so it suits teens more than kids.

What is The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King about?

As armies mass for a final battle that will decide the fate of the world--and powerful, ancient forces of Light and Dark compete to determine the outcome--one member of the Fellowship of the Ring is revealed as the noble heir to the throne of the Kings of Men. Yet, the sole hope for triumph over evil lies with a brave hobbit, Frodo, who, accompanied by his loyal friend Sam and the hideous, wretched Gollum, ventures deep into the very dark heart of Mordor on his seemingly impossible quest to destroy the Ring of Power.​

Cast and crew

More like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

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The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is on our Most violent, Edge of your seat, Epics, Teens and Based on books lists.

More like this feeling

Prompts we typed into CouchRot, and the lists that share its tags.

• “a fun halloween movie, not too scary”
• “a movie that will make me cry”
• “funny but not stupid, under two hours”