The Best Trilogy Ever Conceived!

Rating: 10/10 (25 January 2004)

After watching the three chapters of "The Lord Of The Rings", I'm able to say out loud that Peter Jackson has created one of the best productions in history. His talent and how he has involved crafting the 3 movies have erased any possible doubts about his directing skills. Because back 3 years ago, there were lots of criticisms about letting Mr. Jackson direct what was one of the most ambitious projects in the movie world. And they also criticized the casting of known actors as Elijah Wood, Liv Tyler...
IMO, I'm sure nobody will surpass for a long time what LOTR has achieved as a trilogy. His conception was somehow brilliant and risky at the same time filming the whole trilogy in one year and a half, nonstop, in New Zealand, away (luckily) from the Hollywood influences. But Peter Jackson knew exactly what he had to do. He knew what New Zealand's landscape could offer to recreate the Middle Earth, he took the most outstanding and skillful crew to assure that the movies will make justice to Tolkien's novel and satisfy the fans. Nobody knows how much work the LOTR crew has done for the sake of the trilogy, but watching the films, you get the idea: you usually don't step into the cinema and watch a movie that is as detailed as the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. Far away from being a Hollywood popcorn movie, all three movies evoke emotion, fear and worship.
The first chapter, "The Fellowship Of The Ring" was introductive, setting up the story and the characters. "The Two Towers" was the transition between the beginning of the novel and the epic end that was told in "The Return Of The King". The last chapter of the trilogy, IMO, is the best one, for so many reasons.
First of all, it's the book that I enjoyed the most. So, I was willing to see several parts from the novel translated into eye-candy. Also it's the end, the conclusion, so it has to be huge and epic. I've been astonished by "The Return Of The King", the plot is brilliantly taken from the book, with several retouches for movie's sake. After watching the whole trilogy, you realize it was a good idea to leave the last TTT's chapters for the last movie. These changes are necessary for the movie, because being faithful to the book doesn't mean to copy everything on it.
The cast is awesome in the whole trilogy, but I think they're superb in the last movie, because the characters are evolving and each one of them is unique and deep. The SFX are great and very authentic, plus the score is brilliant. Howard Shore has surprised me with his geniality.
I'll probably say nothing new about The Lord Of The Rings' trilogy, but I've got a statement: we're so lucky to have lived the conception of one of the best trilogies ever made, and I think that it'll be remembered for a long time.
Definitely worth a look! 10/10