A Great Fantasy Film

Rating: 9/10 (4 January 2002)

I am not going to repeat all the standard praise for this very impressive fantasy film but I would like to point out that all this discussion about which the greatest movie of all time is all a little redundant. It is impossible to compare a fantasy movie like Lord of the Rings to a crime drama like the Godfather. I have enjoyed both movies - but they are very different. One movie is a piece of mystical escapist (though intense) fun the other is an insight into the twisted workings of a maffia family and the real nature of power. They are such different films that evoke very different experiences for the viewer why do people even try to compare them? It is more possible to compare like with like (whether by genre or theme) - i.e the Godfather with Donnie Brasco or Lord of the Rings with Hawk the Slayer (giggle).
The whole business of stating whether a movie is any good is as a very subjective affair. For instance there will be ten year old girls out there who think the Dirty Dancing is the greatest movie of all time. In my opinion the Shawshank Redemption is nowhere near as good a movie as its movie database score suggests - and the older you get the sillier that film becomes. Plenty of people will disagree with me - and that is reflected in the movies high standing. Doubtless the Lord of the Rings score will decline a little but I doubt the film will plummet out of the top 100 - it is a genuinely decent film and not a turkey like Titanic or the Phantom Menace.

I think one of the main reasons that this film is so successful is that it has clearly been made with integrity. This hasn't been primarily developed as just a dumb downed money spinner (i.e. Pearl harbour) but is a true labour of love. Peter Jackson really seems to understand his source material and at times even adds to it - look at his treatment of the ring as almost a character in its own right and as a source of corruption. It's his obvious respect for the book that has won over most of the legion of Tolkien fans plus prevented the movie becoming yet another purile sword and sorcery flick.
One other thing - I do think that this is easily the greatest fantasy film made. It is far more involving then the now rather bland and dated Star Wars films. In fact the films true fantasy competition comes from the movie Excalibur - which, in style, Lord of the Rings most resembles. In my mind there is no question that Lord of the Rings has surpassed this old fantasy bench mark and the wait for the Two Towers will seem endless.