Simply awesome!!

Rating: 10/10 (29 December 2002)

I am a great lover of all things Tolkien. I have also long been a fan of Peter Jackson. And this movie is truly spectacular - a genuine epic. I am 34 years old and I still felt like a wide-eyed kid while watching TTT. The feeling reminded me of the first time I saw Star Wars when I was about 10. In fact, I would say TTT was better.
I have read a number of reviews that have criticised this movie (and FOTR) for not sticking precisely to the books. Big deal! Had the movies simply been a page-by-page, visual version of the books, each movie would be a rambling 7-hour mess. As any good film-maker will tell you, any book that is brought to film needs to be reworked to accommodate the different medium. This is especially true of a work as involved as LOTR. It is this problem of translation from book to film that has been the undoing of other fantasy movies (eg: Dune). Bear in mind also that Peter Jackson has made a film for millions of people who have never read any of the books - not just for those lucky enough to have read LOTR (or even The Hobbit). So yes, TTT the movie is slightly different from TTT the book. Does that disqualify it as a valid interpretation of Tolkien's work? Hell NO!! Be grateful that it was made by a genuine Tolkien fan, and not by some third-rate Hollywood hack. If you want to get an appreciation of how much time and effort Jackson and his team put into making the film(s), watch the special features on the extended DVD edition. I doubt there is another director alive who would have invested so much of himself in the project.
Having said all that, what was the movie like? Amazing! Better than the first installment, and that is saying something. Cinematography, sound, music, characterisation, plot development, continuity, special effects (especially Gollum and the battle at Helm's Deep) are all first rate. But similar comments could perhaps be made about Episode II - Attack of the Clones. Yet TTT is (in my humble opinion) far superior. So what separates the two? Soul. Spirit. Passion. I enjoyed Episode II, but I got the feeling Lucas was just going through the motions, pumping out yet another installment. But TTT has an energy that is palpable, and I believe this is due in part to the dedication of both cast and crew (especially Jackson himself).
More experienced and technical eyes than mine will no doubt find fault with the film for a variety of reasons. But I give it a strong 10/10!