Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Director: Peter Jackson

Cast: Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Liv Tyler, Orlando Bloom, Miranda Otto, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen.

Cert: 15

The Ring Cycle finally stops rolling with this, the third, stunningly spectacular wrapping up of all the many strands of the epic J.R.R. Tolkein books of Frodo, Sam, Legolas, Aragorn, and all, and their thrill-packed journey to restore the magical rings to their rightful destination.

This series has been one of the most successful ever made, a sweeping, eye-catching, special FX-filled rollercoaster of a trilogy, told with a rich imagination and consistent flair. There is no fault or flaw important enough to even consider.

King brings the wild adventure to a fitting conclusion in edge-of-the-seat style. It's darker than the previous two films since, in many ways, what has gone before has been the build-up to this climax of battles, monsters, explainations and the strength of lasting and loyal friendship.

The series has already earned squillions of folding notes and a clutch of Oscars and is, natch, a hot, hot, hot favourite for an Oscar sweep come March … which would certainly not be undeserved.

In many ways such a film as this rises beyond comment, it is all that we expect it to be, all that we have come to admire about the series. It has pushed back the confines of moviemaking with its sheer brilliance.

Star Rating: 5/5