Special effects epic.

Rating: 8/10 (5 February 2002)

"Lord of the rings" was as good as has been said. It is not a perfect movie though. I found the effects to be very well done but somewhat distracting. There seems to be this way of having a camera sweep over the effect so you get an idea of the scene but never really focus or linger on any particular object. I enjoyed the lingering shots inside of Bilbo's cottage and the effect of making Gandalf seem so much larger than the Hobbits around him. That was well done. Ian Holm looked tiny compared to Gandalf. The other monster type effects were too fleeting for me. Quick cuts of moving figures looked just confusing for my slow eyes. I enjoyed the shot of Arwen's horse galloping at full speed far more than dark, jumpy shots of Orcs, Goblins, and Uruks. Nonetheless the movie was successful in portraying a believable, fictious world. The crossing the bridge in the Mines of Moria was impressive also a lingered shot of Gollum was good. The movie is long, lots of fidgiting after 2 hours, and violent but not particularly gory. I would recommend it.