Awesome! Totally edge of your seat stuff!

Rating: 10/10 (8 April 2002)

When I went to see LOTR/FOTR, I had no idea what I was in for. I hadn't even read The Hobbit, much less the LOTR trilogy. Was I ever in for a treat! Ian McKellan was the perfect Gandalf, as were all the other characters (I have since read all the above). Peter Jackson couldn't have picked a more middle earth-like setting (I have wanted to visit New Zealand long before seeing this movie). To say this movie was filled with the most deliciously unpleasant characters ever would be a gross understatement. How about that Balrog? Or those terrifying orcs? Or that hideous monstrosity that, with a band of orcs, attacked the nine in Moria? Or those chilling, shrieking black riders? I go to the movies mainly to get 2 or 3 hours of pure escape (probably why I prefer fantasy and sci-fi so much) and this movie accomplished that and then some. I am very impatient for The Two Towers to come out. At least I am more prepared for it and the Return of the King.