The Best Since Star Wars

Rating: 10/10 (15 February 2002)

For 16 years I've known about the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings because my best friend had read them over and over. I didn't follow his advice until about 2 years ago when I read the Hobbit. It was very good, but I never followed through to read the Lord of the Rings. Needless to say, now that I've seen the movie, I'm reading the books!
Any words used to describe how good this movie is would fall horribly short of the mark. I can, instead, describe how I felt as I watched the movie.
In my 30 years of life, my top three "movie moments" are 1) The opening battle scene of Star Wars when Darth Vader comes walking through the door, 2) Seeing the AT-AT's marching toward the Rebel base on Hoth in the Empire Strikes Back, and 3) the speeder chase scene through the Forest on Endor in Return of the Jedi. I mention this because these three moments were so awesome to me because I couldn't believe I was seeing it. I'd never seen anything like it before. It was literally a feast for the eyes!
Lord of the Rings had the same effect on me. With every scene, every battle sequence, every turn of the corner, something new blew my mind. I share the other reviewer's comment of having a smile glued to my face the whole time. AND I HAD NEVER READ THE BOOK!!! I don't know how many times I said to myself how cool this was or how cool that was and how awesome the scenes were. All those memories of seeing the Star Wars Trilogy came rushing back.
Star Wars defined my generation. I feel that the Lord of the Rings Trilogy will define this one. All three movies were made at the same time, so we can expect - AT LEAST - the same quality of movie, if not better since we will see the conclusion of the quest.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is two movies away from being the best epic since Star Wars.