Best of the trilogy.

Rating: 10/10 (12 May 2005)

Let me get one thing out of the way before I start. I will probably be bashed by Tolkien enthusiasts for it but who cares.
I have tried to read the Lord of the Rings on several occasions, mainly because everyone says it is so great and I want to believe them, but I find this book so ludicrously boring that I can only get through half of Fellowship before my mind is wandering on to other things like wondering if I put the cat out. It is pretentious and written in that smug stiff-upper lip way that just makes me want to throw the book across the room. It has way too much description and doesn't allow the reader to project their own images about what's going on. It bogs the story down too.
Having said that I was still looking forward to seeing the films that Peter Jackson was making. I am on record as saying that they would be the biggest films of all time and would ultimately win the coveted Oscar. There was no basis for this as Jackson didn't exactly have a big budget Oscar-winning background. But he is a Kiwi as I am and knew he could pull it off in the best number-eight wire tradition.
The Fellowship of the Ring remains my favourite simply because it concentrates more on the characters than on big budget battle scenes. Don't get me wrong. I loved 2 and 3 as well but Fellowship just edges out. Maybe because it was the first and surprised the hell out of me by having a good story and great film-making tools to tell that story.
Everyone says the extended versions are the definitive ones but I still like to go back every now and then and watch the theatrical versions just to remind me of that experience I felt in the cinema. Something I hadn't felt since Star Wars.
All in all a great movie going experience. Onya Peter Jackson.