A film worthy of Tolkien's imagination

Rating: 10/10 (28 December 2001)

As a fan of Lord of the Rings, I am pleasantly surprised at the very positive critical response to this movie. I think it is a compliment to Tolkien's material, and a credit to Mr. Jackson's direction. Even hardened critics begrudgingly enjoy at least some sets, some of the acting, and most of the CGI. I liked the graceful scenes, the eloquent language, the unfolding of the sets, and the wholly artistic approach in Mr. Jackson's directing. In the scene where the Fellowship quits the Mines of Moria, and the Ranger says that by nightfall "this place will be crawling with Orcs!" I felt that lesser films would have been subjected to laughter, but it is a testament to the actors and the director that the audience believed the Ranger's words, and feared the worst. I was not scared by Mr. Jackson's Black Riders, the overworked Orcs, or a few other monsters I seem to have seen in other horror films.
The only let down for me was the Alien/Hellraiser/Nightmare on Elm Street similarity of the LOTR monsters. The only exception being the Orc's pet Troll in the Mines of Moria, and Gollum, whose eyes were absolutely superb! The entire sequence of fighting the Troll in the mines is simply the best thing I have ever seen on a cinema screen! At times I heard the audience sobbing out loud, and cheering at the triumph of a hero, ...something I rarely hear in a movie and never both together ...until now! Add laughter, and you know people are having a great time! For the first time, I felt like I got more than $8 worth of entertainment from a film!
I was too busy working and going to school to see any "hype" about this film. So, I was surprised to hear of any. It surpassed my expectations, and wins a 10 from me. I know the fans of other movies may be disappointed that their's is not number one right now in i.m.d.b.. And, yes, my mother once told me that Marloon Brando, who said "STELLA!" really cool, and pretended to have a heart attack in one of the godfathers pictures, (and who was too good for another Oscar apparently) was the best actor ever, but I haven't seen much of Brando lately, so I have to make up my own mind, and Ian McKellan as Gandalf is the best acting I've seen in my lifetime! Oscar, where are you? The Lord of the Rings is a movie for the post baby boomer generations, and those without an imagination won't "get it." ...You see, there is this whole other world within Earth's past with different languages and different people than you've ever seen, all with their own civilizations...