> I got around to seeing LOTR on Thursday. I had quite high expectations, and
> it exceeded them. It is about 30 years since I last read the books [1] so I
> can't nitpick about teensy plot points. My main worry was about whether the
> FX could be could be good enough to suspend disbelief...almost totally as it
> turned out. Right at the start when the (small) Frodo leaps onto the (large)
> Gandalf's wagon and it was pretty much flawless, I felt I didn't need to
> worry...
I saw it on Friday night and agree completely. It was
wonderful. I reread the books last months for the first
time in 30 years (we must have read them at the same
time initially). I actually liked the movie much more
than the books. I was not so entranced this time around.
I didn't particularly like his writing style and some
things like Tom Bomadale were just a bit too fey for
my taste. The cuts made in the first book seemed to be
excellent choices. The film does grind along from episode to episode and therefore I
am not sure how well
it will be received by those who don't know the books. I
wanted to see those episodes since I often found the
descriptions in the books somewhat weak (Tolkein spent
more time describing folliage and too little time describing battle in my opinion).
The landscapes of the book, (e,g hobbitville Rivendale, the Mines) were magnificent,
more than I my feeble imagination could
congure.
I wonder how the film makers will handle the subequent books. In Fellowship there is
really only one narrative. But in the subsequent books there are at least two
narratives and sometimes there are three. Tolkein handled this with variable success
in my opinion. Aragorn's roll in the defense of Gondor is told only in retrospect as
is the destruction of Islegard by the Ents. I found this to be anti-climatitic and it
will
be interesting to see how the film makers handle this
challenge. They did a fine job in Fellowship. They intercut the Gandulf Sauraman
conflict into the story
rather than telling it later.
>
> SPOILERS
>
> Since the film is extraordinarily good, I'm just going to mention a couple
> of bits I thought were the best and worst.
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> +
> The mines of Moria were possibly the best bit of FX, *except* that the cave
> troll was the single worst effect. The cave troll just wasn't very good. And
> when Merry and Pippin (?) jumped on its back they got that classic
> Harryhausen plasticine man look. Motion all wrong. But one dodgy FX out of
> hundreds is pretty good.
>
> My other biggest pain was the death of Boromir - very close to Monty Python
> that was. He gets up and fights on after taking a fatal arrow. And then
> after a second fatal arrow. And *then* a third! Like that knight in MP and
> the Holy Grail after being cut to bits! Just die!
>
> But it still utterly demolishes all of Star Wars etc.
>
>
>
> [1] They were three hardbound books when I first read them ~35 years ago,
> and those were the same ones I reread.
> --
> William T Goodall
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk
