Tolkien done right.

Rating: 9/10 (17 March 2002)

Oh, man. I have seen this movie, now, five times. I absolutely cannot get over how incredible it is. Having read Tolkien's books, and loved them (read them if you haven't, they're excellent), I was dreading this film when I heard it was being made. I remembered the animated film from 1978, and how it almost stopped me from reading Tolkien when I saw it, and I hoped desperately that this film wouldn't scare people away from the books like that did me. Then I saw it. Whoa. This film is incredible. For the story and ideas, of course, credit must be given to Tolkien, but the way the characters come alive on screen is amazing, and a credit to the masterful acting and directing of the crew involved in this film. It is powerful and moving, a masterpiece that everyone involved should be immensely proud of. While it does have its problems (every film does), they are small and few, and do not take away from the picture. Cuts obviously had to be made, but in very few scenes could I notice them BEING made (and I've read Tolkien's great series many times). It's amazing what attention has been paid to detail...Tolkien's descriptions for things have been carefully kept used, and if you watch, you can catch small details that the crew didn't even really have to put in, but did anyway--for instance, look for a troll that was turned to stone from The Hobbit in one scene... Excellent soundtrack, too. Wow. And the Balrog is scary. Very scary. Shadow and flame...I'll say. It's The Lord of the Rings, an epic fantasy masterpiece finally brought correctly to the screen...don't take my word for it, see it yourself! You'll be missing out on a lot if you don't.