A retort and a review at the same time.

Rating: Null/10 (26 December 2001)

I typically enjoy reading the critiques on the IMDB. usually being surprised by the professionalism of the writing and examination of the film in question. Being a filmmaker and harsh critic myself, I can appreciate good criticism. but after reading some of the trite comments made about LOTR, I feel my only recourse is to actually retort to the statements made by fellow reviewers. Disliking a film for any number of reasons is every person's right, especially given the subjective nature of film. The ability to articulate your angst is equally important. I am a harsh critic of films myself, despising most of the `disposal cinema' made by Hollywood. I have no problem telling someone why I dislike a film, director, actor, etc. once I have examined the work thoroughly and looked at what lead the film to its present state. Too say a film is bad is one thing but state `that it sucked' is just ignorant. and then to follow up by saying, `The movie was repetitive and unoriginal. It felt like a second Harry Potter', now that is just mind blowing. Don't you people understand that J.R.Tolkien's books ARE THE ORIGINALS? Written in 1954, these are the forerunners of all fantasy. If you asked a fiction writer of the works that most inspired them, you would find the name Tolkien as a common occurrence. I could list off movies and books that have drawn directly from the trilogy, but that would take years to complete. LOTR was a technical masterpiece. Its flawless set design and musical score complimented the fantasy genre. Creating a fantasy film of this magnitude has never been attempted before. and yes, that includes Harry Potter. Don't get me wrong, Harry Potter was excellent in its own merit, but it still takes place for the most part, in a school filled with human children and wizards. The few actual fantasy creatures in the movie were computer generated and looked like video game rejects. To compare the two in the category of fantasy is plain silly. One takes place in a localized area (Hogwart's) while the other spans across an entire world (Middle Earth). Too look at this movie and complain that there were giant birds, magic, and old men of immense power, makes very little sense. You are dealing with fantasy. A genre that takes unexplainable acts, and attempts to give them a base-entertaining explanation. Why is it so hard to suspend your disbelief when two old men are using magic to battle each other, yet easily do so when a three foot tall, green-midget-alien lifts a spaceship with his mind? That answer is simple. YOU DON'T LIKE FANTASY. If you don't like fantasy that's fine, but why did you spend $10 to see a 3hr movie? Because like most people, Hollywood said `See this movie' and like cattle, you followed the herder into slaughterhouse, regardless of your own interests. Only after the fact do you realize that wasted your own time on a genre that you weren't very interested in to begin with. Yes, the movie was three hours long and yes; it's part of a trilogy. These are all things that you knew before you saw it. A story this large couldn't be told in a 90min movie. They tried that in the 70s with the animated versions and they were atrocious. The current LOTR was 3 hours long and they still had to cut out parts of the book. As a fan of the books, I can say that I was not disappointed with the movie adaptation. Sure some things were sacrificed while others thing were changed or added, but that is part of making a viable movie. And. yes, it leaves you with a cliffhanger. The story is unresolved, it's supposed to be. There are two more parts to the movie, but it's not like it ended amidst a battle sequence. The story paused at a crossroad. A new dynamic had been created and the quest had been altered by present circumstances. There couldn't be a better time to set up a cliffhanger. Overall, this movie was fantastic. The first true fantasy film. It's not the greatest movie of all time, but I would recommend it to all people who love fantasy or have the slightest interest in it. It is a movie of true imagination that will go down in history with its written counterparts.