Did it, at least, match your imagination? It surpassed mine.

Rating: Null/10 (22 December 2002)

Almost all of my friends know that I read LOTR only when I found out that the book was voted as the greatest book of the century. Prior to that I've never even heard or give a sh*t abt Tolkien. I haven't read any single book in the top 10 list and was determined to at least read the book that tops the list even if it kills me. Yes, I was motivated to read LOTR out of vanity. It took me close to a year to finish it the first time around. It was laborious. Honestly, LOTR is a difficult book to read. It took me so long because I would stop every so often to re-read every sentence until it made sense in this little mind of mine.
But the genius of the book didn't hit me until much later. I was reading the part when Frodo said "It's getting heavier" when I decided I couldn't stand it any longer and hurled the the book against the wall (which will explain why my copy of the book is in such bad shape and why it has been scotch-taped in so many places.) I didn't continue until weeks later. THAT was how powerful the book is. Frodo's burden became my burden. I didn't even realise that it was taking over my life until I came to that precise moment.
For the longest time Middle Earth existed only in my head (of course today we all know that it is also known in modern times as New Zealand). I couldn't even talk about the book because no one else I know have read it and even when I tried I found that I could not convey the awe and respect that I feel towards the book and its writer. It's now 2002 and since then I've read the book maybe 20 additional times. 2 movies from the trilogy have been released. Today, everyone (unless you've been living with your head up your a** all these while) have at least heard of Frodo the blue-eyed hobbit and the delectable Arwen Evenstar.
Well I have been of the opinion that it is impossible to bring the book to celluloid. IMPOSSIBLE. So when FOTR came out, I suspended all hopes and expectations. I told myself it doesn't matter -- even if FOTR tanked to high heavens I would already be so grateful for the effort to bringing it to life. Bring it on.
And I was grateful. I still am. Honestly, there are very few things that I don't like abt both movies. And 'don't like' is such a strong phrase. I'd rephrase that to say that there are very few things that I thought could have been handled better. My initial reaction to the FOTR stands -- the fighting scenes were incredible but were not captured well enough -- and the same feeling came over me in TTT. The close-ups were disturbing and messy but didn't convey the urgency and desperation of war. But battle scenes have always been difficult to film anyway and very few directors have managed to do this gracefully (I can only name Kurosawa, no one else comes to mind at this point of time). The second one is this, I still think Aragon should be taller and statelier (he is from the race of kings, after all) and more tormented -- for someone who's forced to reclaim his throne and lead the last great war of the Third Age -- somehow I didn't think his pain and solitude came across very well in the movies. But, what do I know? It's probably a tactical strategy on Peter Jackson's part so that the focus of the film remains on the hobbits.
But apart from that, there are many things to love. In TTT, Gollum is a wonder. The scene of him singing at the Forbidden Pool is priceless and when he was brutally captured by Faramir's soldiers - although you know it's just CGI - you can't help but feel sorry for it. The CGI is excellent. I gladly revoke my loyalty to Squaresoft and pass the torch to WETA. In the book I hated Gollum and couldn't understand why Frodo didn't kill it; just as I felt no sadness for Boromir when he died. Watching the films made me see the other sides of these 2 unfortunate characters -- I only saw the evil when I read the book but the films brought out their humanity.
My favourite scenes are actually the ones that PJ added into the movie ie the scenes at Helm's Deep between (i) Legolas vs Gimli when Gimli complains that he can't see any of the battle.. the only scene where Legolas smiles voluntarily and (ii) Aragorn vs Gimli when they are about to ambush the orcs using the side door.
What can I say? If you haven't watched TTT -- go! Not because it is a great fantasy fiction flick but because it is simply Lord Of The Rings -- the book from which, in my humble opinion, all fantasy fiction books/movies were born from. If reading is not your thing (and the book is more than 1,000 pages long the appendices alone can kill you) the movies are worthy substitutes. They are not 100% JRR Tolkien... no one can achieve that I think, but the heart and spirit of the movies are very close the what was conveyed in the book.
And of course, the Legolas in the movies is so much cuter than the Legolas I had in my mind :-)
TTT is an excellent piece of work and a worthy successor to FOTR. Miss this at your own peril!!