A masterpiece in the making

Rating: 8/10 (2 March 2018)

The long awaited favorite trilogy of mine that I read years ago has finally graced the silver screen. I remember the 1978 classic by Ralph Bakshi that pretty much quickly breezed through the first two books and was never finished, so it was a welcome, no, a much welcome surprise to see Peter Jackson's installment of the Lord of the Rings with the latest CGI of its time come to theaters.
Everyone knows that the books are always better than the movies, but Jackson's rendition of this classic is indeed a great and memorable one. It followed the books fairly, but did leave out some content due to time restrictions and did change some content but still handled this classic respectfully, in my opinion. Movies will never do the original justice, I know that, but Jackson did hold true to these books but then veered off in a totally different direction with the Hobbit trilogy (which was one book, not three).
The way Jackson made the story unfold was wonderfully done. Although I am not happy with the Arwen/Aragorn romance angle, as she was not in the books at all, I thought it played out well and Liv Tyler did a fantastic job in that role. I understand "Hollywood license" even when writing a screenplay from a classic, so I ddn't much mind the romance, which Jackson blended well within the trilogy.
The movie did have a slow feel to it, especially the dramatic scenes (which were plenteous) and came across as boring at times, but the storytelling and action did balance things out somewhat. Some things were weird, like when Galadriel stared at Frodo and then zoomed in on her face, all wide eyed and strange looking, but I suppose that was just Jackson heightening the drama and seriousness of the matter, or maybe it was just the style he was aiming for.
All in all, the trilogy was a wonderful tromp through Middle Earth, held up by a terrific all star cast. I would recommend this trilogy, now 15-17 years old, to anyone of all ages.