Defining movie of defining book

Rating: 10/10 (31 January 2002)

LOTR is a literary artefact that defines the century, and LOTR, the movie, is the film that sums it up. Sometimes spectacular, sometimes simple-minded, frightened and brave, it encapsulates what happened to us in the twentieth century. It is about what film does best - magnificent panorama (ah, my beloved New Zealand!), stonking special effects, terrible battles, lingering close-ups of great actors having the time of their lives. When I was a kid, I lived on Middle Earth. Now I am an adult, I rejoice that Peter has let me visit.