Unflinchingly awesome. The third in this masterpiece of a trilogy has been put to film.

Though the movie is excellent all around, one thing that really gets me about Peter Jackson's filming style is the way he does battle scenes. Sometimes, even in otherwise good movies, drawn out battles can get boring, due largely to the way they are commonly filmed: lots of close-ups, quick cutaways, and very little opportunity to comprehend, much less digest what is going on. All too easily in movies, battles can become a mish-mash of stock shots of people swinging swords at each other. Not so here.

Everything is clearly laid out and presented to the viewer. As the lines are drawn, wide shots are used liberally to give everyone a clear picture of where everything is. Though some close ups are used when needed to show characters' emotions, it never feels like a cheat to hide continuity glitches in the action. This is because when there is action, we see that action to its full extent, often from a very ambitious angle, cinematographically spearking.

When thousands of orcs go up against the armies of Gondor and Rohan, wide shots of the battle unfolding are breathtaking enough. Then when it zeroes in to see how each of our favorite characters are doing, it gives the audience a reason to care.

There are moments, comparitively rare in everyday moviegoing experiences, when an entire crowd in the theater spontaniously bursts out into a roar of applause at some great moment of victory. One such time that I witnessed was at Trinity's "Dodge this" line in The Matrix.

This movie had several such moments. When everyone is so into it, and the fates of the characters become psychologically intwined with our own, people can't help but just start clapping, even though it's just a projection screen.

It almost goes without saying that the effects work here is nothing short of astounding. We pretty much come to take for granted everything that was established in the prior two films -- Gullom, the forced perspective shots, etc. -- and it builds from there.

Howard Shore's score is, once again, an awesomely epic orchestration.

As the film draws near the close, it's as if nobody -- film makers, actors, characters, or audience -- really wants it to end. Several times, when I half expected to see end credits ("no, it can't be over yet!"), it went on to another encore, another reunion, another bittersweet parting.

Now I can hardly wait to see what they put on the Extended dvd release. If it follows the pattern of the previous 2, it's sure to add even more depth and nuance to the narrative.

It's now official. Peter Jackson, out of the words and stories of J.R.R. Tolkien, has created a cinema masterpiece.