In The Bleak Midwinter

Ha. We scoff at New Zealand fandom. Sure, 125 thousand-odd fans lined the streets to welcome the cast of The Lord of the Rings at the Return of the King premiere in Wellington but hell, it was about thirty degrees over there. They all lounged around in the sun and got a tan for Gondor's sake. Real dedication is the men, women and children currently camped out in Leicester Square while mother nature does her level best to break their hearts and spirits. It was raining, freezing and generally miserable when Empire Online turned up to the first preview screening of the film at eight o'clock this morning but that hadn't deterred die-hard fans from setting up shop outside the cinema. Hunkering down for an eleven-hour wait until the premiere kicks off, they showed true British mettle. We could only watch in awed respect as they huddled under their brollies and braved the elements, undeterred by whatever evils our daft climate could throw at them. And, several hours later when we emerged heart-warmed and teary-eyed from the film, the fans' numbers had multiplied tenfold with hundreds lining the barriers in anticipation. Now, we at Empire Online have covered a lot of premieres and we've never seen the likes of this. Sure, there were a few fanatics at last year's show but nothing like the numbers that are gathering at this very moment. Fans of Britain, we salute you! Oh yes, the film. Well, we don't want to give away too much before the official Empire review goes up but suffice it to say that the final part of the trilogy is everything you dreamed it would be. And more.