Simply incredible...

Rating: 10/10 (24 December 2002)

***SPOILERS***
I waited about 4 hours in line on opening night with high expectations and left absolutely dumbfounded. I couldn't speak. The plot, acting, landscape, props, costumes, and special FX were astonishing. Gollum, for instance, was always one of my favorite characters and was a bit worried about how he would look. This frequently happens when they make a movie from a book - you have your own mental picture of someone/thing in the story which differs dramatically from what the director, writers, and animators have and that thing turns out to be physically warped beyond any recognition. It could also be too "Jar-Jar" like, off-colored, horribly animated...a number of those kinds of things happen all the time and it's always a pain in the neck. This was certainly NOT THE CASE for Gollum. He was exactly as I had pictured him in the books. I loved the scene where he was fighting with himself...it was so powerful and so sad because Gollum himself is an incredibly sad and pitiful character, though he also has a wicked side. I think they portrayed that wonderfully in the movie.

Also was the case for Treebeard and the other Ents. Their voices and sounds were spectacular. The scene where they re-rooted the river Isen to flood Isengard was incredible. You could see them straining against the sheer power of the waters. It looked so real.
And the Battle of Helms Deep?? I mean, come on, people, even if you're not into the whole fantasy thing or hated the first movie, it's worth going just for that!! Can we all say "Thrill Ride"?
Yet another BRILLIANT job by Peter Jackson.
Oh, and GO GIMLI! Hehe...I loved him. I guess Merry and Pippen (who, I might add, are great in this - Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd were the perfect casting choices) sort of handed the comic relief over to the dwarf.