DIRECTORS before him said it would never be possible, but Peter Jackson proved them wrong.

And now, no less than a month after the release of the much-publicised Harry Potter, comes the dark JRR Tolkien tale The Lord of The Rings.

It's a story that will be appreciated by all.

A tremendous task indeed, considering the number of fans who have grown up with an idea of what lead character Frodo Baggins should look like, but one he manages to tackle very well. At three hours it may seem a lot to deal with, but as you are taken on an adventure through a wonderful mystical land you will forget the idea of time.

The story focuses on the young hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) who is given a gold ring with mystical powers by his Uncle Bilbo (Ian Holm).

The ring has the power to completely destroy the lives of those who live in Middle-Earth. It is up to Frodo to take the ring back from where it came and destroy it.

Not as easy as it seems considering the path is governed by the Dark Lord and those terrifying orcs.

Then there are the elves, dwarves, wizards and humans, all there to add to this amazing world.

Jackson has developed the love theme between the elf Arwen (Liv Tyler) and Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and given the ring a character to counteract the lack of an evil presence. This may wind up dedicated fans, but you can see where he is coming from, especially considering others were loath to tackle the stories intricate complexities.

Jackson has realised that there is no point trying to condense the three stories into a three-hour movie, and so we can look forward to two more visually stunning tales.

All three were filmed at the same time, but we will have to wait until December 2002 until we see the next part on the big screen.

Performances by all involved are spectacular, particularly those by Elijah Wood and Viggo Mortenson, and as always Liv Tyler is stunning as the elf who has mastered her own language.

The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a perfect Christmas movie that may have been overshadowed by films before it, but comes out with the most magical glow.

* In the picture: Ring wraiths ride