The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is a 2014 epic high fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson from a screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Jackson, and Guillermo del Toro, based on the 1937 novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. The sequel to 2013’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, it is the final instalment in The Hobbit trilogy, acting as a prequel to Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The film’s story concludes the adventure of Bilbo Baggins and Thorin Oakenshield’s company of dwarves, who take possession of the treasure beneath the Lonely Mountain as various factions clash over it, while Azog the Defiler and his forces make their move. The film stars Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Lee Pace, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ken Stott, Aidan Turner, Dean O’Gorman, Billy Connolly, Graham McTavish, James Nesbitt, Stephen Fry, and Ryan Gage. The ensemble cast also features Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, and Orlando Bloom. It was Holm’s final film before his death in 2020, as well as Lee’s final live-action role, although he would be featured as a voice actor in several films released after his death in 2015.