I just saw LOTR yesterday. I don't think a better adaptation would be humanly possible.
The best parts were the set design and the landscapes. Rivendell looked just like Rivendell, Moria looked just like Moria, and the Shire looked just like the Shire. Well, except that they were growing corn (by which I mean maize) in the Shire, and mention cooking potatoes and tomatoes. They should have been using Old World crops exclusively. The casting was excellent, especially Ian McKellan as Gandalf. I certainly hope that Merry and Pippen are developed more in the next movies. They were mostly used for comic relief in this movie. Well...I guess that's OK, there were certainly overtones of that in the first book and they only come into their own in the 2nd and 3rd. The pacing seemed incredibly fast to me, but one person who hadn't read the books said it seemed slow. I guess I just kept noticing how much had to be left out, and how compressed in time the action seemed. I wish they had made it more clear that there were several years between Bilbo's farewell party and "The Shadow of the Past" talk between Frodo and Gandalf. Boromir was handled well too, and the temptation to make him a one-dimensional jerk was resisted. Hugo Weaving made a great Elrond, but it was kind of jarring after his role in the Matrix. "Welcome to Rivendell...Mr. Anderson." Oh, and Arwen was NOT butchered, as the fansites have been screaming. Yes, they merged her with Glorfindel. NO she does not butcher Orcs or sit around taverns. For crying out loud, I can't believe how much worry has been spent on this issue, and it was FINE. Let me add that Liv Tyler did not look like a human being in this movie. She looked...weird. Anyway, LOTR was was beautiful, it was true to the books, and it worked well as a movie too. ===== Darryl Think Galactically -- Act Terrestrially __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions for all of your unique holiday gifts! Buy at http://shopping.yahoo.com or bid at http://auctions.yahoo.com
