It's great but there are faults

Rating: Null/10 (8 January 2002)

I went to see LOTR today (all the more enjoyable now that the annoying school kids are chained to their desks once more):-).
This is the second time I have seen this film (and the second time I have reviewed it). My original thoughts still hold true - Lorien & Galadriel are totally wasted in this film. Jackson should have been ruthless and cut them out. Compared to the detail shown to the other scenes Lorien seems half-a***d and allows the plot momentum to falter badly.

On the whole though this film is well worth the ticket fee.
However, best film ever? Don't think so. Let's let the hype die down and look at it in the cold light of day.
What does strike me after reading the comments on these pages is that this is a film made by Tolkien fans for Tolkien fans. The difference in the reviews posted here by Tolkien fans and those with little or no knowledge of the books is striking. Us Tolkien geeks have to bear in mind that, of course we're all going to enjoy watching seeing the characters we read about years ago brought to life but the uninitiated do have a point. This film contains many of the flaws the books do and so will engender the same emotional extremes as have been generated by the text. For those who were less than impressed by the film I have to say that this film does a lot of scene setting. The next two parts really do gather pace and will probably be shorter.
This trilogy shouldn't be regarded just as three movies but instead as the most expensive and risky experiment in movie history. It has begun promisingly but lets wait until it is completed before passing judgement. After all this is one long story and we've only seen the first third.

The overall feeling I have though, is that for the first time in a long while Hollywood has taken a risk and has devoted a big budget to a cult novel and to a director who cares about the story more than pleasing the widest possible audience (eg Chris Columbus) and has avoided meddling too much in its production.
8/10