It's so real, its unreal!!!

Rating: 9/10 (14 July 2004)

As someone who had read the books and was not a huge fan of Tolkien (the man waffled so much I thought I was back doing Ancient History in school again), I was seeking justification for the slating I was about give to the Oscar winning third installment of Tolkiens trilogy. Safe in the knowledge that the first 2 films, although filled with superb special effects and with locations unequalled in recent film memory, had failed to grip me. And with the knowledge that the end to the books hadn't been particularly inspiring to me, I felt sure I would leave the film and be able to talk about the latest overhyped and overrated Holywood blockbuster.
WRONG!!!
This was quite simply one of the greatest films ever made, a picture so good that I am tempted to reread the books and see what I was obviously missing. The acting is superb throughout and generally seems unforced, with the cast seeming totally at ease with their roles and lacking some of the overacting shown in the 1st film (although Aragorn's speech on the eve of battle is a little reminiscent of Mel Gibson's Braveheart "Freedom" speech).
And the special effects are so seemless I actually heard one child asking his Dad "do they have them animals in the zoo?" (referring to the Oliphaunts, giant elephants turned into Middle Earths equivalent of tanks). And I could understand what the kid meant. Everyone knows Gollum is a great, landmark creation for cinema history, but every background, every creature, every epic battle scene are all created with such skill that you just take it for granted that its real. CGI has now made anything appear to be possible. And add to this the faster pace of the storyline and the fact that this film could almost be viewed as a stand-alone story, with no real need to sit through the first 2, and it all adds up to an epic adventure. The fact that it is 3 and a half hours long is negated by the pace of the adventure and it really didn't seem that long. Even my girlfriend, who hated, no, absolutely detested! the first two films, said this one was quite good and that is some recommendation in itself.
Definitely go and see this film. If not you will be missing out on the biggest classic epic since the times of Ben Hur and The 10 Commandments.