Very Good, But Not Perfect

Rating: 8/10 (20 December 2001)

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of my all time favourite books.
I thought the movie was very good, maybe even great, but not perfect. There is no way you can please everyone comparing the movie to the books. The books are so vast, epic and detailed, the reader's imagination soars. It would be extremely difficult for any director, even Spielberg, to satisfy everybody's vision of the tale. That said, I thought the adaption was extremely well done.
I gave this movie a rating of 8 out of 10. I wanted to give it a 10 or at least a 9, but a few of the special effects were weak by today's standards. I feel that a story of this magnitude deserves nothing less than the best treatment available. Having a computer/graphics/design background, I tend to have a bit more critical eye than the average person. Also, I saw the movie on one of the largest screens in town, which will show imperfections easier than on a smaller movie screen or television monitor. I expect by the time the movie is released on DVD, the visuals will look excellent.
Complaints:

The re-scaling of characters to make hobbits and dwarves look small were generally well done, but it was obvious in some parts that doubles (likely children) were used instead of the real actors. Doubles sometimes looked stouter than the actors, and their physical motions (eg: running) did not always synchronize well with the actors. Some scenes were found wanting for better visual continuity. - CGI effects looked fuzzy-ish in some spots. For example, one scene shows Gandalf in Bilbo's house with one of the hobbits. There's a fuzzy edge around his hair; obviously an imposition of a character into the scene. This is where a special effects company like ILM would have far exceeded in quality. For top notch examples of seamless imposition of scaled characters within the same scene, check out Harry Potter and Hagrid in "Harry Potter". Very believable visuals in that movie. - There were also some moments where the CGI visuals did not look completely credible. For example, the waterfalls at Rivendell looked animated, not real. - I also found some scenes too dark and/or washed out looking. The Mines of Moria was fine, but some of the outside daylight scenes could have used a little more richness and warmth of colours. I'm hoping this was due to a lesser quality print of the film, not movie itself. Again, I expect to see a better rendition of the visuals on DVD.

Kudos:

The CGI created Balrog was stunning. It was credibly evil and terrifying to look at. Here is an example of CGI as good as it gets. The cave troll and tentacled creature were also excellently done. - The actors for each role were well cast, and very good to excellent. - Generally, environments (landscapes, mines, buildings, the two towers, etc.) were fantastic, some even breathtaking. - Much of the cinematography and camera angles were well done. One scene shows us the top of Saruman's tower, than pans us down into the depths of the earth where the orcs are working away. Wow! - The make up and costumes were excellent. The orcs and Uruk Hai looked convincingly real and evil. - Soundtrack and effects definitely enhanced the movie. - I found the characters emotionally moving at times (more so the latter half of the movie), not always common in action and fantasy films.

Conclusion:
In spite of its imperfections, it is a very entertaining and worthwhile film. I really did enjoy it and will definitely go see it again at the theaters, as well as purchase the DVD when it comes out. And of course, I can hardly wait to see "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King".