This is as good as it gets

Rating: 10/10 (15 January 2002)

Like many others, when I saw that there was to be a film version of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I was dubious. I doubted that Tolkien's great work could be handled, translated into a visual medium, with any degree of success. The BBC radio broadcasts are a separate and excellent thing entirely.
I was prepared, therefore, to be disappointed. I wasn't. This film wildly outlived my expectations and almost met my hopes. I first read "The Hobbit" almost 35 years ago, "The Lord of the Rings" over 30 years ago, I know those books and I have loved them from childhood. There was a lot there that could go wrong, feel wrong, look wrong, be wrongly interpreted. It didn't really happen. Peter Jackson got it right in so far as a person with their own interpretation of the inside of somebody else's head can get it right.

I and everybody else in the cinema was totally absorbed by the film from the very beginning to the very end.
OK, so in one or two places the special effects weren't that special. There were places where they seemed blurred and out of focus. BUT, oh but, all the things that were right.
The casting was excellent. Nobody looked wrong, nobody didn't fit. I had not come across the work of many of the cast before. I was concerned that Aragorn would be too young, but he wasn't. I was struck by the beauty of Legolas, the humour of Gandalf and the sense of power concealed in several characters. The quality of the acting was generally outstanding. The costumes, the scenery, the props belonged. The ensemble pieces were balanced and finely played, the intimate moments were intimate, at times one almost felt like an interloper.
Quibbles? A few. Not enough was made of the interplay between Legolas and Gimli, the gradual change from wariness and possible hostility to respect, trust and real friendship. Galadriel's transformation scene may be overdone a little. The unmasking of Saruman as a traitor could perhaps have come later - we knew about it before Frodo I'm not sure about that as a dramatic device, maybe we shouldn't know more than Frodo. Boromir's scene with the shards of Isildur's sword didn't somehow ring true to the character. The way he left it lying on the floor. No. If nothing else Boromir would show respect for Isildur's sword, with it Isildur achieved a mighty victory and Boromir would honour it for that reason if nothing else. He wouldn't leave it lying on the floor and walk away. I was sorry not to see Bombadil and Goldwater, but I can appreciate that they don't exactly carry the narrative forward to any great degree. I would like to know how the Hobbits got their weapons, since the provenance of at least one of those weapons is key to later events.
I have seen the film twice now. The first time I was swept up and away with the power and the beauty of it. The second time I had time to appreciate the subtleties of the acting, pay more attention to detail, enjoy the comedy. No doubt I shall go again. As with the book, I suspect that the film has more things to offer on subsequent visits.
The Prologue was necessary. There was, after all, a prologue in the book (although dealing with other matters). Without it the vital significance of the ring would be less urgent.
The ending was just what I expected the ending to be. Except that it didn't quite end at the same place as the book, but after Chapter 1 of the next one. That makes sense to me. This film has been crafted with love, attention to detail and respect, it would be nonsensical to force some kind of closure where there is no need, just to round off an end that is really "the end of the beginning".
Special moments? The race through Moria, the Balrog, the Birthday Party (what happened to the flash and bang when Bilbo put on the ring and vanished by the way?), Durin's tomb was perfect, so was Hobbiton, the cave troll looking for Frodo, a moment of comedy amidst high drama. The crossing of the fords of Bruinnen was another highlight.I could go on.

I am looking forward, with excitement and high expectation,to the nextsegment, and to the time I can go to the cinema and watch all three parts of the trilogy on the same day.
Lovers of the book need not be afraid, in all the essential details this film is the book.Move over Harry Potter, this is real wizards, not trainee. When it comes to film translations of books, it really doesn't get any better than this.