They've done it!

Rating: Null/10 (13 February 2004)

This is one of those rare cinematic events that only comes along every 5 or 10 years (but usually not on this scale, the last major trilogy with this level of impact was the original Star Wars trilogy over 20 years ago). I am including Fellowship of the Ring and Return of the king in this review.
The men are too "pretty", I had doubts in the back of my mind that other actors could have done a better job than the ones chosen, and there is far too much use of the "teary-eye". And in some areas I thought the interpretation could have used a few adjustments. That's the negative out of the way, now for the positives. The locations could not have been better, it's a good thing Peter Jackson is a New Zealander or he might never have known about New Zealand when scouting for possible shooting locations (seems like so long ago when all this was just an exciting LOTR enthusiasts project). The use of models makes the landscapes real in a way Industrial Light and Magic could never manage, when I first saw those stone statues on either side of the river back in Fellowship of the Ring I could not believe how real they looked (until I found out they were not computer generated). The blend between real and special effects is so seamless that it feels like you're really there in middle earth, it all comes together in such a way that a part of your mind says "these must be real locations". The computer effects are surprisingly good, considering the Weta computer lab that made them was set up from scratch, Gollum gets the distinction of being the first believable computer generated character used in a live action film.
Lets face it, Peter Jackson and crew have very good material to work with, Tolkien has provided them with a story that is considered the best among all fictional books written to date (LOTR regularly topping surveys of people's favourite book). Jackson and crew have matched the spirit that Tolkien displayed, bringing to the screen the story in a way that Tolkien himself sitting in the directors chair probably couldn't have done.
People who have read the books have always wondered when a proper effort would be made to make a film of them, and this trilogy is the kind of book-to-movie conversion that everyone hopes for.