Not only epic, exquisite film-making, but HISTORICAL- this one'll go down in the books (no pun intended)

Rating: 10/10 (9 December 2001)

Holy *$#t. Mind-blowing is a word that comes to mind. Think the intensity of Requiem for a Dream meets the epic story of Braveheart meets the eye-popping cinematography and visuals of the Terminator movies and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Then sprinkle in a few acting lessons that bring to mind the ablilites of Brando and Olivier and a novel-to-film adaptation that rivals Egoyan's "The Sweet Hereafter" and you'll have, maybe, a FRACTION of an idea of what this movie accomplishes- and, having only read the Hobbit, it still manages to astound and mind-boggle myself, who am not a "hardcore" LOTR fan. Best-Picture material.