Not as great as I was led to believe...

Rating: 9/10 (12 February 2002)

Perhaps I'm in the minority... OK, yes, I am definitely in the minority, but I just saw "Lord of the Rings" yesterday and am still wondering what all the fuss is about?
Yes, the movie is technically brilliant, from special effects, to art direction, to cinematography. But the story didn't move me at all.
I admit I am NOT a fan of fantasy - "Star Wars" left me similarly unmoved. But to say that "Lord..." is one of the greatest movies of all time is confusing to me. And it's not just IMDB voters but movie critics alike.
One thing I noticed in the film (and since I have not read the book except for "The Hobbit" I don't know if this is similar) is a lot of homoeroticism. I wonder if I'm just reading something into it or was my mind wandering so much that I had to think of subtext, or what?
Did anyone else notice this? From the opening "smoke rings" sequence (Gandolf's smoke boat goes into Bilbo's smoke ring) to the lack of female characters, to the womb-like "evil eye", to men convincing other men to stay with the men and not go with the women...
Anyway, I give the movie 7 out of 10 stars (normally I'd give it 8 but it's overrated here so it needs a bit of reality).