Visually Stunning; Emotional Enthralling

Rating: 8/10 (17 December 2003)

Yesterday I spent over 12 hours in a movie theatre, but with good reason... I was priveleged to have tickets to the "one time only" Trilogy Tuesday showing of all 3 Lord of the Rings movies (the first two in Extended Edition form). Considering the incredible success this even was, I predict there will be a similiar event next year with the three Exteneded Editions.
I was in awe during all three films (most especially during the Extended Ed. scenes from Two Towers which I had yet to see), and stayed that way until even now (after sleeping for a good 8 hours!).
Jackson's skill as a director (and of course the amazing talent of the actors) shines more in the last 30 minutes or so of tRotK than in the entire rest of the film. He manages, with minimal dialogue, to take the viewer on an emotional rollercoaster. One moment my eyes are tearing up, and the next I'm laughing and cheering, only to find myself fighting back the tears minutes later.
As a lifelong fan of the books I was totally thrilled at many of the ways the 3rd film played out. The opening Proluge scene with Andy Sirkis' real face shown as the Hobbit-like Smeagol (with his cousin Deagol) lit my face up with a smile that didn't leave for quite some time.
I can now also forgive PJ for some of the various story changes from the book (Faramir's poor, almost bad-guy, representation in the theatrical version of TT makes more sense after seeing the Ex.Ed. version's scene with his father and brother), but one particular stands out: the lack of The Scouring of the Shire.
They totally neglected what I perceive as the penultimate character developement of Merry and Pippin. After the end of Return of the King those who haven't read the books will not feel the depth of how much the two younger hobbits have grown into the bad-motha-effers fans of the books know they are.
All the other changes Jackson made I can deal with. From the lack of Tom Bombadil-- which I think was absolutley necessary for a film adaptation-- to the elves appearing at Helm's Deep and the change Jackson made in Frodo's actions at the Cracks of Doom, the changes all made sense and even in some ways made the movies better than if they were page for page transcriptions to film.