Cinema - The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King

For the past seven years, the New Zealand director has devoted his every waking moment to realising this sprawling fantasy epic on the big screen.

For the past two years, we have followed him, every jaw-dropping, heart-stopping step of the way - from the sleepy calm of The Shire, through Rivendell, and onto Saruman's Tower in Isengard and the desolate plains of Mordor.

Now, like the surviving members of the Fellowship, we must embark on the arduous final leg of our journey, and bear witnesses to a titanic confrontation between good and evil that will decide the fate of Middle-Earth.

And when the dust settles, we will be able to appreciate, finally, what an extraordinary achievement The Lord Of The Rings trilogy is, and how Jackson has saved the very best until now.

When last we visited Tolkien's magical world, Frodo (Wood) and loyal friend Sam (Astin) were continuing their perilous trek to Mount Doom, to throw The Ring from whence it came, guided by the mysterious Gollum (voiced by Serkis). However, Frodo's strength is waning and his addiction to The Ring is gradually consuming him.

Such is The Ring's influence over Frodo that the plucky Hobbit allows the devious Gollum to poison his mind against Sam, and drive the two friends apart. Having achieved his despicable goal, Gollum then leads Frodo into a terrifying trap and a spine-chilling encounter with the giant spider Shelob, from whose lair no one has ever escaped alive.

Far away, Pippin's (Billy Boyd) curiosity places him in mortal danger and the white wizard Gandalf (McKellen) spirits the Hobbit away to the once great stronghold of Minas Tirith, the capital city of Gondor, which has fallen into decline under the care of Denethor (John Noble).

Having lost faith that humanity will prevail, Denethor refuses to answer Gandalf's call to arms, and stupidly sends his son Faramir (David Wenham) to his death at the hands of Sauron's advancing forces.

Only Gandalf and Pippin's intervention prevents a bloodbath and they incite the other tribes of Middle-Earth to make haste to Minas Tirith, where the final battle between good and evil must play out.

Aragorn (Mortensen), Legolas (Bloom), the fiery-tempered dwarf Gimli (Rhys-Davies) and Merry (Dominic Monaghan) offer themselves into the service of King Theoden (Bernard Hill) in the coming battle.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King is a tour-de-force of elegant story-telling, masterful special effects and intensely moving drama, projected on an epic scale even more awe-inspiring than the first two instalments.

The sets, costumes and art direction are impeccable, seamlessly interwoven into the computer-generated landscapes, which bring Middle-Earth so richly to life.

Action sequences attain dizzy new heights, including Frodo's heart-stopping encounter with Shelob and the earth-shattering final confrontation, which sees the camera swoop among more than 600,000 warriors as they fight to the bloody death while 70-foot long flying Fell Beasts dive-bomb the ground and eight-storey tall, mammoth like Mumakil stampede beleaguered foot soldiers.

These scenes remind us what an incredible, visceral experience cinema can be.

For all of the bombast and spectacle, The Return Of The King is a deeply human drama, borne out by intense performances from the ensemble cast.

And as the story enters its final chapter, Jackson, like Frodo and The Ring, finds it almost impossible to bid farewell to Tolkien's characters and he orchestrates half a dozen curtain call scenes, one after the next, to bid adieu to the remaining members of the Fellowship.

Each finale is more heartrending, poignant and affecting than the last. Sure enough, the film ends where it began, as all good stories must.

Rating: 10 out of 10

By film writer Stephen Webb

Starring: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys Davies, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis

Director: Peter Jackson

Certificate: 12A

Running time: 201 mins