Majestic, grand, moving, sweeping, stupefying, almost perfect!

Rating: Null/10 (22 November 2002)

This easily became one of my favorite movies of all time... along with Contact and The Matrix. It also transformed me into an instant Tolkien fan! How? The movie was simply moving (you're like being pushed along by giant yet quiet waves), elevating (you're like being hoisted up the sky fast), engaging (you're like taken right into Middle-earth and the movie theatre is suddenly nonexistent), and enthralling (visually spectacular)! Unlike Harry Potter which was monotonous, in that there was no satisfying build-up of tension, the LOTR movie monstrosity offered a towering climax so peaking it's like plunging into depths from a roller-coster ride. This movie combines grandeur, decent script, believable acting, and good dosing of computer technology. This almost unprecendented amalgam then generates what is perhaps to be the most successful fantasy movie ever made. It can easily be taken as the gold standard against which other future fantasy movies are to be compared.
And since this experience was awesome, I plan to watch the next installment of LOTR, The Two Towers first, before reading the book... as what I did with The Fellowship. For the comparisons (bet. movie and book)? Pretty loyal. I don't expect it to be so accurate on the other hand, as to deprive the movie-making peoples of their creativity and magical concoctions. This 'freedom' in fact, allowed Peter Jackson to pour forth his passion, so felt in the movie.
The LOTR basically met my criteria of a good movie... originality, engaging, believable, decent script and computer technology, characters you care for, and "lasting." How about any negatives? Some. Like develop more eloquent dialogues to reflect the richness of language of the book.
Beware though, as the film might not be that COMPLETELY satisfying because there is an abrupt ending... one you're not expecting... But that's the way it's got to be, as reflected in the divisions of the book. This is quite true for some people who always wanted a complete story, a true ending. However, this movie was meant to have sequels, 2 actually, which have already been filmed. So that as easily as you were taken to towering heights of beauty and splendor, so too shall you be suddenly thrown back into the movie theatre from whence you came. This manner of ending for me, is not a negative.
Comparing LOTR with Harry Potter is not totally legitimate for me. It's more of personal judgment than any dose of objectivity. Their gross earnings can't be reflective of their individual beauties, for obvious reasons. Then again, they both have different audiences. Different themes and scope and time. Different styles. Nevertheless, of the same genre.
A perfect score for me: 4/4