Went to see the movie tonight, Great charactors,Props (lots of neat weapons), scenes, and textures. Lots of computor generated effects, in all a good movie. niles

Not is Aus, but definently looking forward to it...

I am much relieved after seeing it. They made several changes from book to movie, but most for the better, and they kept to Tolkien's spirit. This is the first film adaptation which I can wholeheartedly recommend. Most of the casting is spot-on (the personalities really come through), the film is gorgeous to look at, and it even has a decent sound-track. Those of us in the entertainment business have to see so many special effects movies, and they are usually so bad that it is painful. This is a movie where the effects are in service to the plot. About damned time. See it. As many times as you can. It will be a long wait until next Christmas and the next movie. Carolly

but without tom bombadil? without burrows? arwen as swordswoman? skinny orcs? what's next to be left out for the sake of commercialism? can't we see eowyn naked? no boobs? forget the film, read the book as many times as you can... use your own imagination!

I am a huge fantasy film fan, and for no good reason. I have seen all of the big ones and most of the little ones (seen Beowulf? I have!). Unfortunately, no fantasy film has actually been worth the price of admission, although I admit I am partial to the directing in Legend and the story of The Dark Crystal. Most of it, however, is tripe. So although I agree that you get the best of Tolkien by reading the books, I for one am completely relieved that someone has finally released a fantasy film worth seeing. A friend of mine whose opinion I trust told me it was the best fantasy film he had ever seen, and, more than that, one of the better films he had seen in general. I can't wait to see for myself.

you're right, apart from legend the best fantasy movies i know are russian films from 30's and 40's...

Thanks for the review, Niles. I was wondering if the film was worth seeing. Now, I'm going to go ;)

azl

definately worth seeing. I was pleasantly surprised that the characters, not the special effects, were the stars of the movie. Too many big budget, big effects movies come out that are all hype and no heart. As for the changes, I think they worked to make it a better movie and I didn't miss the parts left out (this might be because after 3 hours I really had to use the restroom; another hour or so and I would have been in painS). One of the few big movies that I'm planning on reseeing in the theatre.

I loved the books and just finished re-reading them a few days ago. However, the adaptation is well done. It is a very good movie. It is easily the best fantasy movie ever done. See it and enjoy it. Incidentaly I thought that the Arwin portrayal was fine -they did not turn her into a Xena or Eowyn type character. The orcs were good too but they did diffentiate more between the Uruk-Hai and the Moria Orcs than the books did. However, I thought the changes were in the spirit of the books and quite acceptable. Hopefully, this will do for fantasy movies what Star Wars did for SF movies and raise the bar for standards.

I did like how none of the orcs looked the same, even ignoring the Uruk-Hai. Some had scaled patches in place of noses, some had two small nostrils, some had no nose, and so on and so forth. The only ridiculous part of the movie was at the beginning, when it described the battle between Isildur and Sauron. This isn't really a spoiler, but when Sauron swings his mace, ten or fifteen men went flying fifty or sixty feet. A bit cartoonish, even if it was accurate, because they went flying back faster than the speed the mace was swinging.

Must have been a mace of repulsion +5 :)

I thought the Balrog was incredible. It was probably the best computer graphics character I have ever seen.

I am a severe critic of books being turned into movies, especially in todays bubblegum hollywood but, this movie is a MUST SEE for Tolkein fans and "who is Tolkein" people alike. Good casting, excellent character development, and even if you've read the books over and over the look on Frodos face after Gandalf "dies" is enough to rip your heart out. The changes they made were very minor. I give it at least a 9 on a 10 scale.

I'll add a vote for the film. Obviously, something HAD to be compressed. (a single page of script, dialog, camera directions and all, averages out to one minute of screen time. So if you've got a 300 page book, do the math). I hadn't read the Trilogy for a few years now, and am doing so now. Bombadil is really easy to leave out... it's a side trip and doesn't do much to advance the plot, though I loved the Barrows. My only real disappointment was in the casting of Merry and Pippin. I always saw them as more serious, on a par with Frodo. Here they seemed to be 'characters' and comic relief. But I'll go see it a few more times, and buy the VHS as soon as it's available.

I am going to add a word or two... or three err five. I was simply blown away. - Gazy

I just got back from it. Wow. Wow. Wow.

I miss the barrows, too, because Frodo shows here that he is stronger inside than suspected. (Gandalf does say that the moment in the barrows was the most dangerous up to the meeting in Rivendell.) Of course, having 4 naked hobbits running on the grass to warm up would have been interesting to get past the censors. What I miss most, however, was Galadriel's warm greeting of Gimli - with words of his secret tongue - which starts the improvement in elf-dwarf relations and leads to the idea that peril can be finding something beautiful and precious then having to leave it behind. BUT, the movie does some things much better than the books. (And yes, I am surprised to say this about an adaptation of something I love.) The scenes with the Ringwraiths are harrowing (a well-placed hoof, a widened eye, the pillows furiously slashed to feathers in the Inn). The scenes where Frodo is wearing the Ring and we see the world of shadows made manifest are downright scary and very effective. The Balrog is incredible, as is the Watcher in the Pool. Effects aside, these actors are the characters they portray. I felt more sympathy for Boromir in his weakness here... and more affection for Gandalf. This is a movie where effects and cgi (as glorious as they are) are subservient to story and character development. Yes, the director made changes. Losing 30 pages of Boromir's tiresome bragging and replacing it with a half moment of tossling Fordo's hair was an excellent and succinct dramatization of his patronizing attitude. In the books, I preferred Faramir to Aragorn and Eowyn to the other ladies (even Galadriel with both power and beauty). It will be interesting to see how they compare in this version. Carolly

Dear Lady Hauksdottir: I second every word.