An earnest, but not entirely sucessfull attempt at filming the unfilmable.

Rating: 6/10 (21 December 2001)

Being a lifelong fan of the book, and having re-read it just weeks prior to the viewing, it is completely impossible for me to give Peter Jackson's FOTR an reasonable evaluation from an artistic standpoint. I couldn't help but dissect the film scene-by-scene as opposed to perceiving it as one cinematic whole. At times it felt like a protracted illustration and little else. Perhaps a second or third viewing will correct that. For now, on first impression, I can only say that the film was uneven, at times frustrating. Frustrating because some of its aspects worked beautifully; and some were pulling it into quite the opposite direction. Frustrating because Jackson does have a strong personal vision, yet he did make some grave and obvious concessions to Hollywood. Here's the breakdown:
* WARNING! POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD*********************************
THE GOOD:
1) Visuals: Landscapes and Architecture. Flawless. Majestic. Alan Lee as design consultant worked miracles. And furthermore, it made New Zealand a lucrative travel destination for me.
2) Certain Actors. Specifically portraying Gandalf, Bilbo, Sam, a few others... mostly dead-on, much like I always imagined.
3) The "creative license" scenes. Surprisingly enough, most of them did not detract from the movie, and even enlivened it a bit. Arwen's involvement did not seem out of place, and her "flight to the ford" scene is easily one of the finest setpieces of the whole 3 hours. In fact, I would have liked to see even more of her. The allusions to various chapter titles were in good spirit, and the comic relief for the most part worked decently, although it was somewhat upsetting to see Merry and Pippin reserved strictly for that purpose. The subtitled Elvish was a nice touch, in part because it eliminated the prospect of listening to Aragorn's and Arwen's romantic dialogue in English (!)
4) Action Scenes. Nicely staged, esp. the entire Moria sequence.
THE MEDIOCRE:
1) Heavy Cuts. It's true that the film is rushed. The only clues to how much time elapses between various scenes are periodic edits to the transformation of Isengard, and that is insufficient. Many scenes feel shortened in order to meet the 3 hour obligation, especially those of Lorien and I would hope the more complete version makes it to DVD.
2) At times, overdramatic. Some of the players' approach is not very authentic, overly self-aware, Elrond most of all. Aragorn and Boromir overact on occasion, but sparingly. Saruman and Gandalf, bellowing spells at each other across mountain passes come off as a pair of grand opera singers.
3) Derivative Effects. While impressive in their own right, the Wizard duel scene, Cave Troll, and Balrog seem to be inspired by latter-day videogames rather than by Tolkien's descriptions.
THE BAD:
1) Frodo's cleanliness. While Elijah Wood's undoubtedly put his heart and soul into the role, his physical appearance was just a tad bit overpolished. He resembled a CGI model rather than a living, breathing hobbit. And throughout the film, not a speck of dirt seemed to have touched him - does being the ringbearer automatically merit a daily bath in wartime conditions?
2) Prologue. Cheezy and unnecessary. Much of it is repeated through subsequent flashbacks anyway. Could have done without it and went on straight to the original storyline. The initial shot of Sauron holding up the ring is laughable, straight out of a grade-Z flick.
3)The Soundtrack. Atrocious, absolutely atrocious. The single element of FOTR that tipped the scale toward the negative for me. If it was used half as much, the movie would have been greatly eleveated in my mind. But this generic tripe...too closely reminiscent of Titanic for comfort. Remember that scene in South Park where a character is tortured by Enya's music? - well, that's precisely how I felt.