A treasure for all.

Rating: 9/10 (6 May 2005)

As a lover of the book of long standing, some 22 years it was with a mix of trepidation and anticipation that I viewed this film. I had had my ticket for several weeks for the earliest showing in my region and the day off work booked. The only draw back was a late arrival back from Malta which meant that I got to bed at 5am on opening day and my ticket was for 10 am. This meant that Pro Plus and coffee were the order of the day, but I would not miss this film for the sake of sleep.
Prior to the performance the cinema was playing the Beatles and I saw the SW ep 2 trailer for the first time, a confluence of 2 of my other great loves and obsessions.
From the opening scene I was hooked and knew that Peter Jackson had produced a masterpiece as my eyes drank in the rich detail of the depiction of the bucolic nature of Shire life. As a fan I saw the small faults, the glossing over of 17 years between the departures of Frodo and Bilbo and the absence of Bombadill. However I also realised that this was a adaptation of the masterpiece and was functioning for a different medium so should be judged as a stand alone not as the book, I can re-read the book anytime that I wish.
As the film progressed my expectations were surpassed beyond all hope culminating in the scenes in Moria which were simply the most exciting scenes I had seen on a screen up until that time. Remember when Sean Bean as Boromir says " They have a cave troll " we simply accept the existence of such a creature without question. We were IN Middle Earth!
Over the next few days as I considered the experience my conclusions remained the same. This was a success beyond all hope, Aragorn was brought to life, Galadriel was terrible and beautiful but I believed that the character most brought to life was Sam Gamgee by Sean Astin