The most amazing blockbuster in ages...

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2001)

The Lord Of The Rings has done much for New Zealand; it injected at least a hundred million dollars into Wellington alone last year (which is a lot of money here.) Anyway, it is rumored that you can play Six Degrees of Separation with connections to LOTR and it will always connect! Whether or not this shows how huge the film is, or how little our country is I don't know. But, for us all to see our country's and people's work up on the big screen early this morning thrilled me in a way I can not describe in words.
The film combines everything from the grandiose explosions of Pearl Harbor through to the shaky hand-held majic of Pi, in a way that makes sense and eases the viewer into the horrific back-story that must be delved into. After a rather placid first hour, the story begins to heat up horrifically with the entrance of the terrifying Black Riders. The sound of their screams, harls, and snarls is reminiscent of Jurrasic Park's T-Rex roars but with the harshest tone imaginable. To enjoy this film at it's best; go to the nearest cinema that enjoys the pleasures of the latest sound systems, as you will notice the difference when your seats start to shake with the Timpani crashes of Howard Shore's epic score.
The score is truly epic, and easily outweighs the lacklustre score of Harry Potter as does the special effects, the story, the acting, and the direction. So therefore if this is the second film you see this year, you'll be glad you saved the best until last.
The film should be admired on it's constantly building-up of flare and ambitiousness; it starts simply with a lot of romantic Close-Ups and lingering Lond Shots of the lush Shire, but by the two-and-a-half-hour mark, you've been treated to glorious slow-motion, rapid horse chases, and many a heroic face. The acting is wonderful when combined with everything that did make me gasp for breath, and the scene that stuck out in my mind was a part of the Bridge of Khazud-Dan (or something like that) that was absolutely heart-breaking (If you've read the books you'll know what I mean).
I should change that last passage though; (If you've now seen the books, you'll know what I mean) because this movie unlike Roger Ebert's obviously over-streched imagination, was exactly how I imagined it. Every detail that Tolkien ever described was there, leaving me with my last satisfied thought.
All in all, well done to everyone involved, and I hope everyone with access to a cinema gets to go see this near-perfect movie.