I really do know what I think..... Honest!!!

Rating: Null/10 (20 December 2001)

*Definite Spoilers* (although you've probably read the book so you know whats going to happen anyway) I had my ticket bought when they went on sale over two weeks ago and I've never looked forward to a film so much. Was all of the anticipation going to have been worth it. Well, i've never left a film and criticised it so much on the way home. Did I hate this film I hear you ask? No. Far from it. This film could very well be the best film ever made. I've sat through a few similar length cinema films (Titanic, The Green Mile) and I thought they seemed to pass quicker the LOTR did but I'm not saying this dragged. If the next two are anything like this then this could be the best trilogy ever made. Criticise was the wrong word, it was more comparing where the film differed from the book and how things were omitted or changed. These differences didn't detract from the film especially if you've not read the book yet anyway. The opening fight sequence was just awesome, much better than Gladiators opening battle sequence. The special effects all they way through were totally believable. New Zealand's unspoilt countryside was utterly breathtaking, this film could not have been made anywhere else. Tolkien's descriptive writing made Jackson's job easier when it came to landscapes. It's almost as if Tolkien had New Zealand in mind when he wrote it. I think the audience I watched it with mostly hadn't read the book because when Gandalf falls there was complete and total silence in the cinema, you could feel the sense of shock.
The ending wasn't as much of a cliffhanger as the book leaves it but I think it works equally as well this way. I was unhappy on leaving the cinema because my near 3 hour rollercaoster ride was over and apart from experiencing it again i have to wait a whole year for the next trip. In the meantime I suppose I'll just have to go and see this one again and again and again and again.......