I also thought the film was fantastic. Every part of the battle at Helms Deep was amazing to watch. I loved when Legolas shot the rope and made one of the large ladders fall. You could see all the orcs at the bottom get knocked out of the way. Then when Gandalf and the other reinforcements rode down the hill and the light bathed the battle field...holy crap. Visually stunning. The ent attack on Isengard was also breathtaking.

Frankly, I think the best actor in the movie was Gollum. I kept forgetting he wasn't real and was fascinated by his facial expressions and body movements. The rest of the actors were usually panicked or awestruck by things or looking very serious. They did fine, but nothing stellar.

An amazing movie.