Cinema has come full circle.

Rating: 10/10 (12 April 2002)

I am 17 years old, and I work in a theater. About 5-6 months ago we got a poster of a ragged looking Elijah Wood holding a gold band with no text except for "The Trilogy Begins". I had heard of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings but never read them and I had never heard it was being made into a film. Upon the first trailer I saw I bought and read the books instantly, and I must say if this film lived up to the book, I would have for my generation what a certain space opera provided back in 1977. The books are masterpieces, no questions asked, if you did not like them, your either void of creative intuition or just can't enjoy reading. Needless to say with every poster and trailer reel we recieved I had a shiver down my spine, my only thought, this Jackson guy better not massacre this film as was done in the animated version back in the day. The night we recieved the prints, we spliced it and played it after closing. I can honestly say that I would have sat through it 8 more times, wich I eventually did, but that's another story. Elijah Wood was always that goofy looking kid in the movie with Macauly Caulkin, but he owned the screen, no one can take that away from him, except every actor in the movie. In no way am I taking away from Wood, but everybody in the film put 110% into this gem. I must say that of all the hobbits, Sam was the closest to my vision, a little chubby, a lovable round face, and displaying his loyalty to his friend without saying a word. Sean Astin was never overshadowed or overlooked, he was honest and a generally great guy. I wish they would have tied in that he, Merry and Pippin were all in cahoots waiting for Frodo to make his move, but since his process of leaving the Shire was cut down from over 10 years to one night the change had to be made and I understand. I did miss Bombadil but I will not complain, his character would have seemed corny and out of sync if kept intact and actually might have hurt the films dramatic integrity, some characters are great on paper but just can't be translated to film. I need to say no words about Ian Mckellan because I cannot bring justice to his performance, if a course was taught on great acting, his performance would be at the heart of the curriculum. I loved Legolas and Gimli as the unlikely pair, Rhys-Davis is one of the best character actors ever and he is really funny, I think they could have spared some more comedic back-and-forths between the two, which may have ended up on the cutting room floor. The battle scenes are all spectacular, spellbinding and well...cool. Done with the scale and skill that I think no other film has accomplished, considering the special effects and make-up required alone, I love the scythe swipe performed by a battle line of elven warriors at the beginning of the picture, it was a great little bit of choreography. All in all I think Peter Jackson was robbed at the Academy Awards this year and I know I am part of the many masses that agree. But there are two more films, and hopefully someone will kidnap Russel Crowe (hehe). Jackson and his rag-tag group of hobbits, elves, dwarves, wizards, and oh yeah, men will have the last laugh. Two Towers and Return of the King were superior books because the story's wheels had been set in motion. If that transfers to film, wich I have no doubt it will, 2002 and 2003 will bring the story so much gold Frodo could just pitch the ring in a lake and go home happy, for all his troubles will not have been in vain.