The Biggest, Most Enjoyable Film since, well, NEVER

Rating: 10/10 (28 July 2002)

As I walked into the theatre for the 7:00 screening of Lord of the Rings, my hear leaped with excitment but also worry. What I worried about was that Lord of the Rings would turn out to be one of those films with big hype, big anticipation, big comercialization, and awesome trailers, yet would turn out to suck and get it's way to the bottom 50 films of the past 10 years. Damn was I wrong. When this movie rolled along I had only read half of Fellowship of the Ring, and had no idea what happened next, so it came to some surprise when (SPOILER RIGHT HERE AND NOW) Frodo got stabbed by the cave troll and looked like he was dead.(SPOILER END) This has big hype, big anticipation, big comercialization, and awesome trailers AND doesn't steer too far away from the books, aside from leaving out Crickhollow, Tom Bombadil, and a much longer part with Farmer Maggot, but were only side adventures. The dramatics, action sequences, story, and acting are what makes the movie shine. Some people complain that they left out the songs and poems from the book. WHAT DO YOU WANT! A DISNEY MOVIE!? What the film differs greatly from the books is the drama. Such as (ONCE AGAIN, SPOILERS DEAD AHEAD) When Gandalf falls from the Bridge of Kazah-Dum, he falls alright in both book and movie, but everything goes slow motion in the movie and you can hear the sorrowful cries of Frodo. The book, from what I remember, it's fall and run. Boromirs death is not fully explained in the book, but the movie shows him fighting off the Orcs, trying to save Merry and Pippin. There is once character in the omvie that isn't in the book. That is the Uruk-Hai called Lurtz who kills Boromir. (Spoilers END HERE) But all in all this is the best movie of the century. Gandalf could whip Haryr Potter and day. Sauron, with one hand tied behind his back, could overthrow Voldemort whenever. End Verdict: 12/10