Masterful cinematic storytelling

Rating: 10/10 (23 December 2001)

Many images passed through my mind when I read the Lord of the Rings. The words seemed to take a form with each scene and that story played out in my mind as a series of dazzling and unforgettable images and, although other novels I have read were made into films, none have captured those images that lingered in mind as precisely as Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings.
Each scene was almost perfectly portrayed as I would have crafted them should my thoughts somehow have taken form on the silver screen. It was in short the most enjoyable cinematic event I have had the privilege of witnessing. In fact, from the warm sunlit fields and hills of the Shire to sliver of a bridge in the darkened mines of Moria, I could not have had an artist draw such a vivid retelling of this classic story.
Jackson's magic did not end with the props, sets and scenery. It appears he managed to pass on an infectious and accurate understanding of Tolkien's novel to the cast and crew of the movie. Each actor demonstrates an uncanny understanding of Tolkien's vision of the particular character they were portraying. The meticulous crafting of the fellowship results in characters you care about who drive the story to it's exciting conclusion.

I will eagerly await the Two Towers and the Return of the King. Because the sequels were filmed simultaneously with the present film, I cannot imagine the film maker nor his characters lost any of their fervor in their pursuit to masterfully create the complete tale.
Bravo Mr. Jackson.