The Return Of Elijah Wood

Arguably the most eagerly awaited film of the year, the final chapter of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "The Return of the King," has finally hit theaters.

At the heart of the cast is Elijah Wood, who plays hobbit Frodo Baggins. Once again, Frodo must continue his journey to carry the ring to Mount Doom and save Middle Earth.

Wood tells The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith the story revolves around the dramatic tension between the characters.

He says, "A lot of my journey is so internal. Frodo is dealing with this internal struggle of this evil that is threatening to destroy his soul. So much of it was through my eye and it was definitely an interesting journey for me."

The principal filming took 16 months but in total it has been a journey of four years for the actors, Wood said. Now that it is over, he notes he could not be more pleased, "It was always our favorite film as well filming it, so now that it's coming out and people have responded to it in the way that they have - saying that it's the best of a trilogy is very gratifying."

One of the most believable characters, Wood says, is Gollum. "Over the course of these three years, they've been sort of honing their skills and the technology has gotten better, so I think Gollum looks more realistic than ever. It's nice to go to a film like this and believe what you see and not have to reference that it's this is real. It's all real and believable."

He also credits Sean Astin for his portrayal of faithful friend Samwise Gamgee. "He breaks my heart in this film. What his journey is and the fact that his character has to remain strong and essentially pick up Frodo when Frodo can't carry on yon more; it's an incredible journey for him and he's done such an incredible job."

Asked what he has learned about himself after doing the film, Wood says, "I think I learned what I was capable of doing. I think that the experience asked so much of us and we had to give so much of ourselves in the difficulty of the schedule shooting and with the roles that we were given - because we had quite a lot of responsibility with these characters and I think that after the end of it, we sort of felt like we were capable of doing anything."

In the J.R.R. Tolkien-inspired "The Return of the King," the forces of darkness gather to eliminate men from the world. The forces of men, elves and dwarves prepares for the onslaught with one great battle to help determine the future of Middle Earth.

Meanwhile, Frodo (Wood) continues on his quest to destroy the ring that has become an evil drug for its carrier. He travels to the Mount Doom, the only place to obliterate the ring, with his friend Samwise Gamgee (Astin) and the untrustworthy Gollum. It is Frodo's mission that will ultimately decide the balance of good and evil.

Some Facts About Elijah Wood