Loved the Oliphaunts

Rating: Null/10 (15 January 2004)

OK, a quick comment having just seen it last night. Yes, I loved the Oliphaunts, Heffalumps or whatever they were, plus the trolls. For special effects it was brilliant. And I loved the beacons on those Kiwi mountains, and I loved Minas Tirith. I had read the book 35 years ago, and again just after LOTR1 came out, and the magnificent white city of Minas Tirith perfectly fitted my mental image of it, drawn from Tolkien's very precise geometric description.
The bad news is that some of the screenplay and acting didn't quite live up to expectation. For example, I felt that Denethor was just a cardboard cut-out mad-baddie, and to me the actor bore far too much facial resemblance to the one who played Grima in LORT2, so he almost became Grima2 in my mind. And the bouncing on the bed scene really was crap.
They also totally left out the bit about Saruman having gained control of the Shire and the small war against him and his Sharkey Fedayeen on the hobbits' return. I thought this was a significant part of the book's journey from the climactic destruction of the Ring high in the Cracks of Doom down towards the final quiet departure from the Grey Havens, another scene which was..... crap.
The greatest movie ever made? Sorry, no, please get real. 8½/10, but it's a lay-down misère for the Best Picture Oscar, which will really be well merited for the simply awesome achievement of the entire trilogy.
And just as a small postscript, after the Ring had gone and Frodo and Sam were marooned on that tiny rock amidst all the roaring flow of molten lava, my partner whispered to me, "This is silly, they'd be roasted alive", and I replied "Yes, I reckon the plot's just starting to get a bit far-fetched!"