Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (12A)

DIRECTOR: Peter Jackson

STARS: Elijah Wood as Frodo, Sean Astin as Sam, Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn, Orlando Bloom as Elf Legolas and John Rhys-Davies as Dwarf Gimli

OPENS: Wednesday 18 December

The second part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy opens next Wednesday - and this time it's action all the way.

The first film devoted plenty of time to setting the scene and developing the plot and characters, but The Two Towers bursts into action from the word go.

Actor Orlando Bloom, who stars as Legolas the elf archer, says a series of dynamic battle scenes dominates the new adventure.

"We let rip with them," he says. "I become Action Elf. With the first film we had all these characters to introduce and a really complicated story to explain.

"That meant there was a lot of the film which didn't have much action in it, but now we've done that, this one is fantastic - and it sets up the great finale that everyone will be hanging out to see."

In next week's offering, Legolas, Aragorn and Gimli the dwarf set out to rescue lost hobbits Frodo and Sam, who were separated from the rest of the Fellowship at the end of the last film.

It involves long marches, fierce battles and tough horse rides - things that attracted Bloom right from the start.

"I've always loved riding, as a kid growing up in Canterbury I used to hack around the countryside," he says. "I picked it up again for the film and learned to ride on about 30 different horses."

The hardy star says the action-packed shoot in New Zealand has left him with a permanent taste for adventure

"I'm a bit of an adrenalin junkie," he grins. "I used the spare time on location to learn surfing, sky-diving and white-water rafting, and I did my first bungee jump there.

"I knew it was something I would be scared of but I really wanted to try it, because you face your fears and get over it."

And even now he admits he can't forget the mythical world of MiddleEarth and especially the real-life fellowship he shared with his Lord of the Rings co-stars.

"I miss them all the time," he says, "It really isn't one of those things which is just an on-set friendship which ends when you stop working together. There are lots of those in this business, but this is something else. I mean, all of us even got a tattoo together.

"I wouldn't do that for every film," he adds. "It just goes to show the film may have been fantasy, but the camaraderie was for real."