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

Frodo didn't have to leave at all. He chose to depart from his home because he couldn't settle back into his old life. The Shire folk pride themselves on the ignorance of problems outside of their homeland. The corruption of the ring, the near-fatal wound from the Witch King, and his newfound knowledge of exactly how fragile his little community is in light of his experiences left him with an outlook on the world that couldn't be covered by the formerly peaceful, and blissfully ignorant, life-style of the Shire folk. He was unable to heal emotionally from his experiences either, as the wound he received from the Witch King never fully healed and caused him intense pain from time-to-time, as well as flashbacks of the event.

Thus, he thought it better to leave to start a new life elsewhere.

It should perhaps also be noted that although the film shows the departure of only Frodo, Bilbo and Gandalf, other members of the fellowship are known to have traveled to the West also. Legolas as an Elf obviously went, taking with him Gimli (the only Dwarf allowed to travel sail to Valinor). Samwise left after serving 7 consecutive terms as mayor of Hobbiton. Aragorn served his term as King and died a natural death on Middle Earth.

Also, Merry and Pippin never went over the sea. They died at Minis Tirith and were buried in the tombs of the kings, and later placed next to Aragorn when he died. Sam didn't leave until after Rosie died, and was only allowed because he was, for a short time, also a ring-bearer.

As for Frodo, he mainly went because he could not find healing in Middle-Earth. His wounds were too deep, and he could not be cured. However, he (along with Bilbo and Sam, the only Hobbits ever permitted to Valinor) will eventually die a true death as well, after he has healed. The Undying Lands cannot make beings who are not normally immortal (such as Men or Hobbits) immortal.

In Frodo's life as a ringbearer he also experienced much pain, he was also permitted to sail across the sea for ridding Middle-Earth of its great evil, its scourge, his great sacrifice for the well-being of all creatures.

On a different note, as Peter Jackson said in the director's commentary of the dvd, the departing to the West is a metaphore for death. Remember what Galadriël (Kate Blanchett) said to Lord Elrond in The Two Towers about Frodo: "the quest will claim his life". While the quest did not kill Frodo physically, it did end life for him as he knew it. So going to the West metaphorically ended his life in Middle -Earth as well.

Sauron's physical form is not seen in the film, only his eye which rests on the top of the tower. However, the 4-disc special edition dvd set has a documentary that has original footage of Aragorn fighting Sauron. The confrontation takes place while the final battle is coming to an end, and Peter Jackson discusses the reasons that Sauron was later replaced with a computer generated beast who battles Aragorn instead. Sauron appears briefly in the Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring while the backstory is portrayed.

The book is more elaborate on this point than the film, and Peter Jackson also explains the reason during the audio commentary on the dvd.

The Eagles did not take sides in the War on the Ring until the end, so they would not have assisted Frodo when he started his quest. This is similar to the Ents, who only participated when they felt they were drawn in by Saruman. The Eagles are also very proud creatures, who will not allow themselves to be used as just a means of transportation. The Eagle that rescued Gandalf from the tower of Saruman did so as a personal service to Gandalf, whom he knew personally.

More specifically: the chapter "The Scourging of the Shire", in which the Hobbits return to the Shire, and find their homeland ravaged by conflict and industrialisation. It appears that Saruman, who fled to the Shire after his defeat at Isengard, was responsible for this, and caused a civil war among the Hobbits.

The running time of the movie was already exceeding three hours, so Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens had to omit several large sections from the book. Also, as the movie had already come to a finale with the battle at the Black Gate, another conflict would have felt like an anti-climax, so the decision was made to leave it out.

So the actual scourging of the Shire was left out, and Saruman's death was put in the beginning of the extended edition of the movie. One reference to the omitted ending remains, and it was seen in The Fellowship of the Ring, when Frodo takes a look into the Mirror of Galadriël. There he sees the Shire burning and the Hobbits being imprisoned by Orcs, thus witnessing what fate awaits the Shire if Sauron gets the ring back.