Not just good, its golden.

Rating: 10/10 (10 October 2002)

I was a precocious brat. I had The Hobbit licked and was half way through the LOTR before I finished primary school. I grew up with these books; the world of middle earth sometimes seemed as familiar to me as the village I lived in. So when LOTR: FOTR came out I really couldn't wait. But on the other hand, adaptations have the habit of, well, sucking. A lot. Luckily Peter Jackson knew his Tolkein onions. He also seemed aware of the possible death threats he would receive from obsessive D+D players.
As far as I am concerned Jackson has created something wonderful. He has breathed life into one of the worlds most enduring tales and done it so magically it just entrances you. Most three hour films start to feel like three hours by the end. My arse was going numb by the end of JFK and Titanic was overlong by 2 hours and accounts for three of the suckiest hours of my life. FOTR, however, grabs you by the throat straight away and doesn't let go until the credits roll. And when they did I sat back and wondered if it had really been three hours. Surely that was two, tops. But it wasn't. I was so engrossed, the time just flew.
And in those three hours Jackson gives us some of the most spectacular vistas ever seen, some of the best action and special effects I have ever seen and, most importantly, one of the best stories ever told. It could have easily been different. He could have played to the studio. He could have re-jigged the story for modern audiences. He could have played it completely straight and included all the songs (so many it really would have been LOTR: the musical). He got it spot on. He kept the right parts, dropped the right parts and updated the language carefully. The result was a faithful interpretation, which kept the magic of the original, but did not alienate new comers to the story.
I cannot praise FOTR highly enough. The only thing which will top it is the new extended version which I cant wait for. Oh, and the next two in the series. Roll on the Ents!