WOW!! Unbelievable! 10/10 BUT VERY SCARY IN PLACES!!

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2003)

When I left the theater today, I felt the same emotions that I felt when I saw "Star Wars" opening weekend back in 1977. Unbelievable! Magnificent! Mind-Boggling! WOW!!! In fact, I said the word "WOW" out loud maybe 10 different times while watching! My previous favorite movies this year, "Finding Nemo" and "Pirates of the Caribbean", although still great favorites, are not as good, in my opinion, as the masterpiece epic "LOTR3" was.
The audience reaction to the movie was very interesting. The audience clapped and cheered numerous throughout the film, just like with the original "Star Wars" and very few other movies during the past 25 years. Several times people stood up and were yelling and shouting at the screen. The lady next to time began crying several times, one time she just lost it, and was crying hysterically. And I got worried sitting next to her. At the end of the film, I found that sometimes my eyes started leaking a little also, despite my best efforts to stifle such emotions. The audience was talking about how great the film was as they were leaving. And it was VERY SCARY IN NUMEROUS PLACES! Which made the audience jump out of their seats or hide under their coats!! (Me too! I was scared several times, the fight with the spider was INTENSELY NERVE-WRACKING. And the dragons flying overhead were CHILLING AND EXTREMELY FRIGHTENING. This is when the audience kept jumping out of their seats the most. There are several scenes where the evilness of Sauron's wicked army of minions is clearly shown to us, they are very scary scenes, and some of the wicked creatures are very horrific to look at. The fish scene with Gollum at the film's beginning is a real gross-out.
Parents, this film is too SCARY and INTENSE in my opinion, for children under age 9 or 10! If your young children have been brought up on a steady diet of horror/slasher movies, maybe they won't be as scared. But I doubt it! The scariness is most intense in the scenes were the SUSPENSE IS UNBEARABLE!! I won't say which scenes those are, but there are several. I DO NOT THINK parents should allow their kids to see this movie without accompanying them, and if necessary, holding their hands, or putting your arms around them when it is at it's most intenseness.
The most important aspect of the movie was it's EMOTIONAL IMPACT. This movie was an EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER right from the start, and it never let up for 3 hrs plus running time. I was gripping the armrests on my seat for almost the entire time. If only there had been some boring scenes to give us a chance to catch our breath, and let our nerves get over the latest fright, but I don't remember any places in the movie where you could relax! YOU MUST GO TO THE BATHROOM BEFORE THIS FILM STARTS, BECAUSE YOU WILL MISS A LOT OF PLOT AND EXCITEMENT, IF YOU LEAVE IT AT ANY TIME, except maybe the last ten minutes or so. Be sure to bring tissues, most of the audience sitting around me was crying or sobbing, or weeping through parts of the film. Women were crying more than the men it seemed like.
Can a movie win an Oscar for background scenery? It was probably the most magical backgrounds and beautiful locations EVER FILMED!! (HAS TO BE IN THE TOP 3 ANYWAY!) The battle scenes were UNBELIEVABLE! It was just amazing! There were references to some other films, especially the "Wizard of Oz", when the ringwraith meets his end. The movie was full of allegories, dripping and soaking in them, especially religious and historical ones. But unlike "The Matrix 2 & 3" you didn't feel like someone rubbed your face in them. In this movie, they were obvious, but in the background, readily noticeable, but never distracting from the screen action. If only "Matrix 2 & 3" could have been directed by Peter Jackson!! Speaking of direction, if there is any justice in this world, Peter Jackson would win every award this year for best director. The actors were all great, even the evil ones were fantastic! Standouts were Sean Astin, and Andy Serkis. Sean Astin's acting provided much of the rampant emotionalism in the theater audience. When he was angry, the audience got angry, when he cried, everyone around me seemed to also start crying. He would signal to the audience what they should be feeling, and the audience FELT IT! When Ian McKellan was on the screen, YOU JUST COULD NOT TAKE YOUR EYES OFF OF HIM. HE WAS MAGNETIC!! But everyone was just great! Every actor in this movie should be proud, most have probably been in the best movie they will ever make, and given the best performances they will ever give!!
As for the adaptation of the book, I read "LOTR" 30 years ago, so I don't remember the little details, but I thought Peter Jackson and any other writers WERE VERY FAITHFUL to the classic book. Far more than most other movies are. Especially "Cat In The Hat", where the movie was not at all what Dr. Seuss wrote or intended. I felt like J.R.R. Tolkien would be very proud of these filmed adaptations of his books. And I think his heirs should be proud of this film too. Watching it on a giant movie screen, the time just seemed to fly by, no one seemed to want to leave when the words came up on screen, "The End". I JUST DON'T SEE HOW THIS MOVIE COULD HAVE BEEN ANY BETTER, I THOUGHT IT WAS ABOUT AS PERFECT AS A MOVIE CAN GET!! (I know, I said that about "Finding Nemo" also!) I voted it a 10/10. I asked my friend who went with me, if he thought it was as good as the first 2 LOTR's. We both agreed, "LOTR3" was the rare sequel that was better than the original! We thought it was the best film of the trilogy. This movie, for people over the age of 10 maybe, was Definitely Worth the price of admission. (I saw it at the matinee price, not the evening price.) Take the time to see it, I am certain that you too, will be saying WOW!!