Jackson made Tolkien new for me again

Rating: 10/10 (15 February 2004)

Reading "Lord of the Rings" for the first time at around 16 years of age was for me a seminal experience. The impact of the work was so strong that I read the books three times in a row before I completely digested the enormity of this masterpiece. Much of who I am today was formed from how that first reading made me look at myself and look at life. Since that time I've read the books more than 30 times. Each re-reading has deepened my appreciation of Tolkien, but the joy that I felt when reading the work for the first time is something that I thought would always be in the past.
When I first heard about the Jackson films I was both pleased and anxious. I was pleased because I love movies and have always looked forward to someone attempting a filmization of my favorite author. Of course, I was anxious because any adaptation of LOTR would probably not be good enough (recalling Bakshi's attempt in the late 70s).
When I first saw Jackson's "Fellowship" I had to watch it about 3 times before I could rid myself of my own idea of what a Tolkien film should be like. After this happened I realized what a great film this really was. My experience with "Two Towers" was that I was so upset with the choices that Jackson made that I only watched it once and have yet to discard my disappointment with the film. However, I am planning on seeing it again when I purchase the DVDs (extended, of course) of all three films. I am pretty sure that several re-viewings of the film will also rid me of my disappointment with it.
My more recent experience with "Return of the King" was a bit more complicated. On first viewing I liked it way better than "Two Towers" even though I was disconcerted with certain plotting choices and spent a lot of time arguing with Jackson (in my head, of course) while watching the film. However, at one point in the film something suddenly clicked for me that hadn't clicked in any of Jackson's three films until this point--Jackson somehow managed to distill in this one moment everything I loved about Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings". I started to cry, not so much because of how moving the scene was, but because Jackson managed to make me feel exactly the same ecstasy of emotions that I only had been able to feel when reading (and re-re-re-reading) "Lord of the Rings".
The first time I saw "Return of the King" I had (literally) to run out of the theater the minute the credits came up to be on time for a choir rehearsal. I really did not have time to completely digest everything that I was feeling about the movie. So I decided to go and see the film a second time. In the past, when I had watched "Fellowship" for a second time, it was after I had purchased the video. This was the first time that I had returned to see one of Jackson's films at full price at a theater (which is now $10.25 in most NYC theaters). This second viewing was an eye-opener--not only did I feel the same emotions, I felt these emotions during the whole movie regardless of changes in plot or character. I also started to forget that these people were actors in a movie and started to feel for them as if they were real people with real problems. This is the first time that this has happened with a fantasy, or science fiction, film. I even went to the film a third time (still at full price) just to see if it still made me feel the same. It certainly did, only even more so.
I have now come to the conclusion that Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" films (not just "ROTK") are among the greatest movies that were ever filmed. Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" films are perfect in way that Tolkien's books themselves are perfect. Which is not to say that the films (or even Tolkien's books for that matter) are without flaws, but that the films (like Tolkien's books) are masterpieces that reflect much of the minds of their creators. The fact that Jackson is not Tolkien (and visa versa) means, at least to me, that rather than a mere filmization of the work we have two completely separate, if at the same time completely related, works of art.
Both are masterpieces, and while it is true that Jackson's films could not exist without Tolkien's books and the primacy of creation goes to Tolkien, Jackson's powerful vision gives something back to Tolkien. Having seen and loved the films I will never be able to read Tolkien in the same way again.
Peter Jackson in "Return of the King" has done the miraculous--he has made Tolkien new for me again.