The Best Movie Ever Made?

Rating: 10/10 (18 February 2002)

It's interesting to scan the list of comments and note how some people seem to hate this movie, while others love it. A similar pattern can be found in the external reviews. This mirrors the books themselves: Tolkien once famously wrote that many derogatory comments had been made about Lord of the Rings by literary critics, but this did not bother him, because he had similar opinions of some of their works, or works that they enjoyed.
I think it's fair to say that the "thumbs up" somewhat swamp the "thumbs down", and we see on the IMDB vote table that the film is second only to The Godfather (and actually has a higher arithmetic mean than that classic). This universal acclaim was by no means guaranteed, despite the mass support base already in place, long established by the best selling trilogy. You only have to look at Bakshi's attempt in the 1970's. While that work was never finished, and so comparison is perhaps unfair, it was also attacked on many other levels by reviewers, fans and non-fans alike. Making Lord of the Rings was a courageous and risky venture.
Having seen it, I can honestly say that it well deserves the acclaim. I entered the cinema wondering whether or not the film would live up to expectations, and came out thinking that it was the best film ever made. Perhaps that's an overstatement, but it illustrates the movies' power. Even now, I cannot think of a better film I have ever seen, and I've seen quite a few.
Time will tell how great a movie it actually is, but I well suspect it will be long revered as a ground breaking classic, and will wield uncanny influence over future generations, just like the books themselves.