I woke up this morning at 7:00am thanks to Beavis, my furry, four-legged alarm clock. So with nothing to do but try and stay warm - because the temperature outside is two degrees with a wind chill of seventeen below - I decided to put on a sweat suit and crawl under my covers and watch a few DVDs - something I fear is slowly becoming an addiction. So considering the fact that it was early, and since I fell asleep the last two times I saw it - I decided to watch Lord Of The Rings - The Return Of The King.

As I watched this almost three-and-a-half hour epic, I was completely enthralled by its magnificence. Culminating the story of the most untouchable trilogy since Star Wars - the film is a perfect ending to an age-old story that could not have been told any better.

I must have watched the first two movies, Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring, and Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers at least half a dozen times each - and that includes the "extended" versions. Being a fan of swords and sorcery my whole life, which included reading books on the subject, watching movies like Willow - and playing Dungeons And Dragons as a teenager - my love for this mythical time is lifelong. So although I got the gist of what happened when I saw The Return Of The King the first time - through frequent naps since we went to see the 11:30pm show after I worked all day - I really wanted to see the whole movie. I did try again on New Year's Eve - but fell asleep again. So with single digit temperatures outside and nothing to do inside but try and stop Jack Frost from nipping at my nose - I decided to try once more and see the movie in its entirety - and the third time was the charm - as it was in the trilogy.

This movie, through its acting, direction, special effects, and underlying original story - was the most amazing movie I have ever seen. No other movie I have seen - and I have many, many favorites - even hold a candle to this masterpiece of movie making. I am marveled at how Peter Jackson's directorial eye was able to show Tolkien's tale in such detailed perfection. It was as if he absorbed the thoughts of everyone who ever read Tolkien's tale and extracted what they thought the characters and places in the story looked like - and built the movie directly from their minds.

There is not a frame of this movie that does not feel real. From each released arrow, to every single swing of a sword - to the most powerful full screen battle scenes ever created - no movie could ever come close to the quality of production that spawned this unmatchable trilogy.

I will confess here and now that I have never read the books that launched these movies. So I went into each movie not knowing what was to come - much to the amusement of some friends of mine that have read the books so many times they could recite them. So whenever something happened in the movie that was a turning point, or a twist - or a loss - I was brought to tears because the movie drew me in that deep.

Many movies have been remade over the years. From Psycho to Titanic to Robin Hood - making new versions of old movies is an old habit - and an easy paycheck. If anyone ever tries to remake The Lord Of The Rings trilogy - they would be a fool. With a grillion dollar budget and a cast of one hundred thousand people - you could not re-create what is these three movies. They are more than motion pictures - they are living depictions of a tale long told - that has finally and properly been brought to life.

This is not the first time someone tried to bring The Lord Of The Rings to life. In 1978, Rankin Bass made a cartoon version of the tale - that, although somewhat popular - is but a shadow of Jackson's flawless rendition. And after seeing the tail end of this trilogy unfold - I doubt anyone would dare re-invent Jackson's wheel.

If you have never seen any of The Lord Of The Rings movies, please do so at once. Very rarely there are movies that come along that define our time to not only the world, but to future generations. This trilogy is Casablanca, Star Wars, The Wizard Of Oz and Gone With The Wind. It is the 21st Century representative of cinematography. And it is one trilogy that I will certainly add to my rapidly growing DVD collection - and like all my favorite movies - watch over and over again.

What a movie.