Evocative, visually rich and true to Tolkien

Rating: 10/10 (18 September 2002)

I am a HUGE fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I have probably read the books 6 or 7 times, cover to cover. I read it aloud to my children, all 1000+ pages, and I have a cat named Gandalf, the Mostly Gray.

I find Peter Jackson's LoTR film rich, evocative, and true to Tolkein. It has gotten better each time I have seen it--which is maybe 10 times now. How many films can handle that level of scrutiny? The script, written by people who obviously love the books, takes a brilliantly conceived but often clumsily written fantasy-saga and transforms it a real world with real people and real feelings! I have been impressed by the clarity of the script, the decisions the writers made to compress a complex epic into a 3 hour movie, and by how the writers managed to get at the emotional heart of scenes. Though I was a bit sad that the Tom Bombadil interlude and the barrow wights had to be cut, that was too bad.
Despite the many times that I have read the book, some of the characters and scenes were hazy to me, and P. Jackson has made them vivid and true. If I have a criticism, it's that they go overboard on the special effects--like the gazillion ooze-y orcs in Moria, the dripping-with-blood Nazgul or the variably sized cave troll. Could Sauron have more big sharp metal angles??? But the acting is exceptional: Ian McKellan as Gandalf is the moral center of the film, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian Holm are convincing as noble Frodo, wise Sam and jolly Bilbo, Viggo Mortensen is a manly Aragorn, and Orlando Bloom is a totally persuasive warrior wood-elf. I thought Sean Bean's Boromir was complex, troubled and nuanced portrayal. A film adaptation of Tolkein deserves the best of everything: best acting, best sets, best props, best costumes, best music, best script, best directing, best fighting, best effects, and I believe this film has given it the best of the best.
I have to admit I am astonished by those viewers who complain that the Aragorn and Arwen romance wasn't in the book. !!!! It must be a guy thing to miss a major plot line if it doesn't involve swords. Go back, re-read. Tolkein was big on the whole myth-saga thing, and an Englishman to boot, so relationships are deep and feelings suppressed, but it's all there. For me, the fact that the writers understood and brought it out makes me giddy: We can trust these people. We are in the hands of Masters! I can't wait for December 18.