Better than the first

Rating: 10/10 (22 December 2002)

I think TTT is *much* better than the Fellowship with the sole exception of Gandalf who doesn't get nearly enough screen time. Other than that, TTT is pitch perfect. Who cares if PJ "deviated" from the written word? Translating something from one medium to another always results in changes, and there are always purists who complain - I'm sure when Tchaikovsky wrote "Onegin" the purists were screaming he was murdering the poem, but it's still a great opera. If you want LOTR as Tolkien wrote it, then go read the book. Frankly, I really didn't like the book much at all and thought it was a complete bore (what's with all these unnecessary and irritating characters like Tom Bombardil? And why do they have to declaim a very long and bad poem every time they decamp somewhere? And it takes the Hobbits friggin' *20* years to leave the shire with the ring, after they've told just about everybody who wants to hear they're setting out on this adventure, and packing enough provisions for the entire army of orcs - come on!!). So when The Fellowship came out, I went in there reluctantly, expecting nothing in particular, and came out so captivated with Gandalf that I saw the movie 7 times. And TTT is even better. Is there anything like the battle at Helms Deep in movie history? I'm going to have to see it again a couple more times to take in the whole thing, because it's a wild movie, and almost overwhelms the viewer, but it's simply great. Stop flipping through the pages of the book to see what PJ changed and just enjoy yourself.