One movie or 3?

Rating: 10/10 (10 January 2002)

This movie was awesome in the true sense of the word. Every aspect of it was tremendous - casting, acting, location, cinematography, music. From what I've read, heard and seen on this very website, the people who did not like this movie 1) went into the movie expecting to hate it (probably because it is "fantasy") and therefore spent the whole time looking for things to criticize, 2) cannot sit through a three hour movie, or 3) cannot open their mind enough to appreciate a "fantasy" movie, even though I don't consider this "fantasy." I consider this closer to historical fiction. I think most people who have read and understood LOTR feel the same way.
I have also read reviews by popular critics like Roger Ebert, who gave the movie a lower rating because it failed to show him things that he mistakenly took from the book - where did he get the idea that in FOTR Frodo was a leader of any sort? He claims the movie made Frodo out to be a follower, carried along by bigger, stronger people, and he felt this changed a basic theme in the book and therefore lessened the movie in his eyes. Otherwise he loved the movie. Go back and read the book again, Roger, because the movie was not off base. Frodo did nothing on his own (and in fact repeatedly got himself into trouble and endangered the mission without Aragorn or Gandalf around) until The Breaking of the Fellowship.
Is it the greatest movie of all time? Fellowship cannot be the greatest movie of all time. Nor can The Two Towers, nor can The Return of the King. But what about "The Lord of the Rings," as a movie, taken as a whole? The Lord of the Rings is one book, not three. Just like the movies, the book was split up solely for marketing's sake. Fellowship is not such a great book. But the Lord of the Rings is considered by many to be one of the greatest books of all time.
When The Two Towers and The Return of the King are released, all three should be considered as one movie when debating whether it may be the greatest of all time. So far the first movie lived up to my expectations. The next two books take the story farther than people who have not read them could have imagined. When the final credits roll on Return of the King, I predict that the trilogy, as a whole, will have been one of the greatest things to be portrayed in cinema to date and will not be topped for decades to come.
So I suggest viewers wait until all three movies are released to pass final judgement on any of the movies.