Lord of the Rings

Starring: Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, John Rhys-Davies, Sean Bean and Andy Serkis as Gollum

One of the most successful trilogies of all time, it has been hailed by some. And they aren't far wrong!

The Lord of the Rings, made up of three books, or films, depending on which you found first, made into cinematic history by a New Zealander who goes by the name of Peter Jackson.

Jackson has defied all logic and managed to do what was dubbed by many, including Miramax studios (who aren't half kicking themselves now!) as 'impossible'. In fact, LotR was originally going to be just that, three books crushed into one film entitled 'Lord of the Rings'. You can just see that, can't you? The films on fast motion, Hobbits running around faster than usual, eating more than usual and talking in higher voices than useful!

The story is, in more ways than one, a fantasy tale. One ring, so full of power that it corrupts the wearer, that controls nine others. A hobbit, orphaned and sent to live with his uncle and a wizard. Sounds like a Disney cartoon. But this is anything but a cartoon.

Frodo Baggins, son of Drogo, (how do they come up with these names?) must take this ring and throw it into the cracks of doom. Sounds easy, exactly how you'd spend your week off. Joined by his cousins, Merry and Pippin and his loyal gardener, Samwise Gamgee, he sets off into the unknown.

That's basically all that happens in the first film, although Frodo and co manage to gain more travellers along the way. Namely an elf, a dwarf, a man and the future king. At this point I'm still struggling to separate this from Disney.

Cue second film. The plot starts to pick up. The characters separate. Frodo (Wood) and Samwise (Astin) go to Mordor alone, not wanting to lead any of their friends into danger. Merry (Monaghan) and Pippin (Boyd) have been captured by Uruk Hai and are being persued by Aragorn (Mortensen), Legolas (Bloom) and Gimli (Rhys-Davies), intent on saving the little ones.

Along the way, Frodo and Samwise end up picking up a deranged companion, Gollum (Serkis). He seems intent on causing them damage, leading on into Return of the King.

If you haven't seen the films, you'll have to, to find out what happens. Unless of course, you've read the books, in which case, you'll already know.

In my opinion, although the films weren't completely faithful to the books, they didn't stray too far and were fully deserving of the 11 Oscars for the Trilogy.