"All things that have a beginning have an end." This might be true, but the era of The Lord of the Rings series is anything but over. Director Peter Jackson has only made it stronger with the third installment of The Lord of the Rings movies, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The final installment of this trilogy hit movie theaters on December 19 and became the number one grossing movie at the box office. The third installment chronicles the end of the journey to save the mystical Middle Earth and all its creatures from falling under the dark rule of the evil Lord Sauron. While Hobbits Frodo and Sam continue their quest to destroy Sauron's ring of power in the Mountain of Doom, the remainder of the Fellowship: the wizard Gandalf, the hobbits Merry and Pippin, Legolas the elf, Gimli the dwarf and Aragorn the man prepare for the final battle against Sauron and his dark army. The movie focuses on the last kingdoms of Men left in Middle Earth - Gondor, Rohan and a few smaller tribes - as the only hope in restoring order and good against the ominous threat of Sauron.

Full of amazing battle scenes, views of the countryside and some surprise guests, The Return of the King has to be one of the best-made movies in a long time. The sheer magnitude of the scope of the movie itself is huge, celebrating the once great Gondor. The Realm of the Men in full length shots are jaw-dropping in their beauty. The Witch King of Angmar (Paul Norell, in his major film debut) is a physically menacing figure in movie, as is Sauron's enormous red eye beating down upon the land as he observes the surrounding events. The intensity of these characters help keep a sense of urgency as their powers grow stronger by the day and serve as some of the great examples of the extreme details Jackson pulled from the original story.

Set designs for Minas Tirith, the capital of Gondor, Edoras in Rohan, Mordor, Mount Doom, the encampment and other scenes - designed by Alan Lee and Dan Hennah and brought to life by Grant Major - were breathtaking. Special effects cemented the look so well that one could not tell which sets were really built and which were just scaled models. Filmed in the beautiful countryside of New Zealand, the masterfully shot panoramic scenes were awe-inspiring views of lush green valleys and snow-capped mountains.

Not to be outdone by the scenery were the impressive battle scenes. Sitting proud on noble horses, the armies of men fearlessly charged the revolting masses of Orcs, the hideous and ruthless creatures groomed by Sauron. The thousands of computer-generated men and orcs were an outstanding example of the amazingly realistic reaches of technology.

This movie began a little differently than the first two, opening with a scene years before when Smeagol-Gollum, played by Andy Serkis, was still a hobbit, and found the Ring of Power. It showed how the Ring was so powerful that it transformed Smeagol into the creature Gollum. The scene also gave a picture of what Gollum had went through during his incredibly long life and showed what lengths Gollum would go to for the Ring. The small glimpse into Gollum's life was a nice change, but it might have had a bigger impact if the scene had been longer with more detail.
After that, we return to the present where Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) are with Gollum, still making their way to Gollum's "secret" entrance into Mordor. At the same time, Gandalf (Ian McKellen) Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) Legolas (Orlando Bloom) Gimli (John Rhys-Davies,) are arriving at Isengard to find Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) triumphant after "extinguishing the evil fires that had arisen there."

From there they return to Rohan where more trouble befalls them, causing Gandalf and Pippin to ride to Minas Tirith, the capital of Gondor. There we meet Denethor (John Noble), the fading steward of Gondor , and discover he has gone mad over the death of his son Boromir (Sean Bean), which happened towards the end of the first movie. Gandalf and Pippin have to warn Rohan, so they take the fate of Gondor into their own hands, setting off the alert fires to call for aid.

After that, the final battle for Middle Earth begins, with a few surprises in store for the enemy. Aragorn takes up his rightful position, accepting his fate as the King of Gondor, and binds a special army to him until the end of the battle. Aragorn's recognition of his past is a big turning point in the movie, and the moments that follow bring real hope to audience that the people of Middle Earth just might survive.

All of the actors in the film brought together their respective talents, which resulted a superb ensemble performance. Bloom and Rhys-Davies create a nice dialogue between their characters, who have become close friends since the beginning of this tale, providing the intense tale with comic relief. They stand behind Aragorn together, especially when death looks them in the face. During the battle, Miranda Otto is strong and determined as Eowyn, the niece of the king of Rohan, longing to earn respect as she shows that women can definitely fight and even wield more power over others than men. Boyd and Monaghan bring a goofy, yet resolute element to their characters as they struggle to be taken seriously despite their small size and the prove their worth and heroism in battle.

Astin is convincing in his role as Sam becomes a real hero in this last film. He shows such strength, courage and strong desire to help Frodo complete his task that one believes he would give his life to help Frodo throw the Ring into the fires of Mount Doom. Astin truly brought the character of Sam to life with heart-wrenching emotion and convincing acting.

While all things must come to an end, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - as well as the first two films - will remain a film legend for a very long time.