Page 1 of Lord of the Rings

Well, at 00:15 Dutch time (23:15 in the UK) I took my seat in the best cinema in Holland, popcorn and coke standing by, bladder nice and empty (3 hr film....) and girded my loins (ooer).

Then they showed a trailer for Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and we all laughed.

As the screen widened for the main presentation, the cinema went very quiet as we all held our collective breath and then it began.

Three hours later I staggered out of the cinema, wiping tears from my eyes wishing I could watch it again. NOW.

I won`t give anything away - if you know the story there`s nothing to give away but why spoil it for those LoTR virgins. The acting is excellent (even Sean Bean manages some), New Zealand is the perfect location, the settings are exactly as I`ve always known them to be in my mind and the Hobbits have hairy feet ;) Gandalf is superbly well cast, indeed my only quibble is the typecast Dwarf (but then thinking about it, they were typecast from their descriptions in these books, so that`s actually correct....)

All the important bits from the book are present, and none of the elven poetry (most of which I`ve never read in over 20 readings of the series) which is nice.

The music is again excellent and fits the pace, the scenes and also the feel of the film perfectly.

No, it`s not perfect, nothing ever is, but it`s dammed close and is my film of the Century so far - this one will go down in the history books like the first Star Wars film, ET, Saving Private Ryan, Citizen Kane etc as a defining moment in cinematographic history.

Sorry, had to get that off my chest. Should probbaly have sent it to the IMDB ;)

John

PS The Balrog is not cute and fluffy

Saw LOTR today, the ads were for Austin Powers: Goldmember and Rat Race, very funny FYI.

The film itself is astounding. I`ve always had a problem with Tolkiens masterpiece. namely that when I finish reading the trilogy, I forget what happened in the beginning (makes it the ideal desert island book though)

But the film is enthralling from beginning to end. I could begin by saying the effects are excellent, but that would be diminishing the film. It is not just an effects movie. The performances are excellent and honest. They have stayed faithful to the intent of the original text rather than updating it for a modern audience, (no irony or wisecracks). Naturally the whole text couldn`t make it onto film (Tom Bombadil is excised) but what is shown is the essence of the story distilled to three hours. I was totally involved in the story and moved along with the events, something that the book has never done for me. Also the time flew by, I didn`t realise my ass was numb until I sat down in my car after the movie.

I eagerly await the next two installments, if they are of this standard then we are in for a majestic treat.

Whether it is a defining moment in cinema history is debatable.
It is very, very good, but not epoch making. The story is well known obviously, and there is nothing terribly new cinematically. By staying faithful to the text, it potentially limits its audience. As in the book, female roles are underwritten (though admittedly expanded) Arwen and Galadriel are little more than cameos.

The definitive film version of Lord of the Rings? Certainly.
The best film of the century, or even decade? Only time will tell, but I fear not.

Definitely unmissable? Absolutely!
Go and watch it, what are you waiting for?

This item was edited on Wednesday, 19th December 2001, 18:56

Having never read any of the books all I can say is IT`S THE DOGS BOLLOCKS!

Sounds great, thank goodness for no irony or wise cracks, thats a relief.
I nearly had to go into hospital after Dungeons and Dragons with those. oh gor blimey it was terrible, smart ass modernistic rubbish spoiling it, GROAN.
LOTR sounds flippin good, will just give the bank a ring in the morning to see if they will fund a trip to the Multi-plex.
all the best Mark.
PS just interested to know if there are a few non human-ish good characters in it adding to things.

You have to wait for the next installment, The Two Towers
due in December 2002 for some decent non-humanoids
I`m assuming you don`t mean dwarfs, elfs, hobbits etc.

In the next movie you get to meet some Ents,
they`re basically intelligent and mobile trees

i saw this at 10 am on wednesday in the ugc at glasgow and have to say i (i as in my own opinion) found it to be a really ordinry(not spelt right i know) film, it was acctually quite boring for most of it. Having never read any of the books i had no overall expections of this and have no idea how it comperes. and it seemed like i was in there for about six hours not only the 3. i might get a copy of the book and see if it is any good.

Fozzy_Bear.

Ordinary ? I wish !!

If you judge this film to be ordinary then the movie world must be producing fantastic films all the time!!> LOTR is an absolute masterpeice & has jumped straight into 2nd place of my all time fave movies. The Matrix still in @No1.

Stiggy

believe the hype!!! this film is awesome!!!

Thank god I wasn`t the only one who thought it was dull!

Looked nice though

yawn...

I thought it was the quickest 3 hour movie I`ve saw. Great casting, excellent effects (ILM who?), gorgeous scenery, and as faithful to the book as you can be in 3 hours.

Roll on the DVD...