A difficult one to judge

Rating: 8/10 (30 December 2001)

First of all, I went into this film with far too much baggage, the over hyped expectations were bound to be a let down, and having read the books many times over the last ten years (although not in the last 3 or 4) it would have to be something incredible to live up to my expectations/hopes.
I think I needed to watch it a few more times before I can really judge it, but after the first viewing I was left slightly annoyed, this is why.
Annoyed that it was so very good in many places, but let down by naive almost typical Hollywood direction in several places.
the first hour was almost faultless, but the first uneasiness I felt was with the hobbits first encounter with the black rider; the atmosphere, look style tension was perfect, the scene was laughable. The rider seems incapable of catching a few unarmed hobbits while on horseback... he's almost got them, cut to scene hobbits are suddenly 10 meters ahead again, cut to another shot, he's almost got them.. Repeat, repeat... It took all the fear the black rider's image had generated and made them seem harmless.
However it was the Rivendell sequence where I first felt really annoyed, I could put up with the minor plot changes with Liv Tyler; that was done nicely. As soon as they arrived in Rivendell it felt wrong, it seem too beautiful, too cgi, there was no life in those scenes, no people, I always thought Rivendell was alive with people and music, I would have expected a beautiful but more rustic surroundings, I think of the Indoor candle light scenes in Kubricks Barry Lyndon.. Then the meeting was skimped over, no large gathering of people, no real discussion, no long table, it was like this whole chapter was rushed and pushed under the carpet, the only redeeming feature was the excellent Bilbo scene.
I put this all down to time constraints, put it to the back of my mind and tried to enjoy the rest of the film.
Then the Moria sequence, this started great, the imagery was awesome, the atmosphere was good, everything was perfect until the fighting started.....
Why in movies does everyone fight like they are in a movie?? You might think that's an odd thing to say, but fight scenes are cliché, the goodies wield their swords/bow perfectly, can do unbelievable moves, they fight like I do when dreaming.
I again think back to the great director, Kurosawa and his film Rashomon. it probably has the best fight scene ever, you see first the samurai's recollection of his noble fight, crossing swords 20+ times before the final kill, then later you see a witnesses account of what really happened...
When people fight for their life's they stumble, are scared/terrified, make mistakes are desperate, sometimes have flashes of brilliance, its a hard brutal thing and not a 'he shoots he scores' extravaganza time after time.
I could live with the flashy fast cut direction of Jackson, but it just seemed like he was going through the motions, no imagination to move away from the norm.
Then it got worse... the escape to the bridge why do we have to have the Indiana Jones style/dues ex machina c**p that we see in Hollywood films... before they get to the bridge the stairway collapses, they get split up.. ah but its ok because the other stairway falls into the other one saving them... why did we even have that scene, it added nothing, people in the theatre laughed, let them just walk down the stairway for god sake.
The stand on the bridge however was done well, as was the aftermath.
I distinctly felt the whole lady of the woods sequence was rushed, and not given the attention it deserved, it was like Jackson wanted to get to the next fight sequence as soon as possible.
** SPOILERS **
The last fight sequence, was again handled well, the imagery was excellent as was the acting, up until the Boromir's death.
First of all more dues ex machina The hobbits are about to be taken, at last second Bormoir arrives to save them, literally 1 sec before they are about to be killed/captured.
He took far far far to long to die, was it Monty Python?? 'he's dead!'.. No I'm not, 'he's dead'. I'm getting better??? Then as he's about to take his 4th arrow at point blank range more dues ex machina... a split second before the arrow is released Aragorn arrives and saves them again, some more Hollywood fighting, at least Boromir's death speech was well done.
Then finally Sams terrible drowning scene... Why oh why... it was probably some of the worst cinema I've seen in ages. It served no purpose, it was badly done.
** END SPOILERS**
There was some very good imagery in this film and very good acting, the script was good (obviously a sound base) but I think the direction was let down by either a rushed approach, studio pressure or naivety.
This certainly isn't the best film of all time, or even in my top ten, but its a solid top twenty, I gave it a 8/10.