Posted on 12/20/2001 3:25:18 PM PST by Anitius Severinus Boethius
****SPOILERS**** If you do not want spoilers about this film, or about the novel it is based upon, please stop reading now. Thank you.
I have now seen the movie twice, and have slept since last I saw it, in order to ponder what I saw. It was a superior piece of film, wonderfully and lovingly crafted, that will endure to fall high on the list of great movies. Not at the top, but will be within reaching distance of Star Wars one way or the other. I will refrain from comparisons to the novel and will try to look at it as strictly a movie.
The Excellent
Direction and Cinematography
Unlike what Hitchcock thought, actors are not just set pieces that talk. Jackson understood this and allowed his actors the latitude needed to flesh out their roles. He also kept the pace crisp and the action meaningful. There were no parts where I was going "OK, we get it, now just move on", it flowed wonderfully. His penchant for making the camera another character works better in this film than in any of his other works, and I believe will inspire many directors to pick up this practice. Jackson will be nominated for an Academy Award for this movie.
Set Design and Costuming
Best of the year. Best of the last 15 years. Really need to go back to Cleopatra or Spartacus to get the revolutionary feel. Period films in the future need to toss the idea of using the same warehouse to retrieve design pieces and costumes from if they wish to not be ridiculed at Oscar time. Richard Taylor and everybody who worked a making this film feel real deserve their own special accolades and awards from the academy. They have raised the bar not just an inch, but a foot.
Screenplay
Oscar winner. Just give them the award now. Save us time and the other nominees the embarassment of saying "It's an honor just to be nominated." These writers have done the impossible.
Acting
These actors fall into the Excellent category.
Ian Holm. His Bilbo has more depth in the 15 minutes he has on film than many characters have in several films. Holm has taken his crumbs of dialogue and turned them into a bountiful feast.
Sean Bean. Boromir feels dangerous and unpredicatable and yet Bean has made him understandable and sympathetic. A hero who for an instant becomes an anti-hero and then, realistically, regains his heroism. Many casting agents are going to highlight Bean's name for leading roles from now on.
Ian McKellan. Embodies Gandalf in a way that is quite remarkable. Looks and speaks like an old wizard, moves and acts like a man in the prime of life. His eyes are the key why he is Sir Ian McKellan.
Viggo Mortenson. Plays the self-doubting King in Exile with more confidence than you would expect, but his times of bravado are shaded by his knowledge that he must do what his legendary forefather failed to do.
Liv Tyler. Armageddon? Was she in the movie? I didn't think any really great actors were in that. Completely stole every scene she was in.
Christopher Lee. Playing another bad guy? How cliched, but also how delightful! You can tell he was having the time of his life.
Sean Astin. The most innocent character in the whole film is also the most warm and tender character you can imagine. Sam could have come off as a dull, simple lad or a toadying sychophant with someone else playing him. But Astin creates a warmth and loyalty that is often missing in the "buddy" genre of films.
Orlando Bloom. Legolas the elf will be the action hero of the next few years. The fighters in the matrix would blanche at having to face the bow of this elf. Kick butt, or a less polite synonym, is the only modern phrase that garners the full meaning of how his fighting makes you respond. Plus, his grace and steadiness in the non-combat sections makes him seem like a complete character and not just a fighter.
The Good
Special Effects
Industrial Lights and Magic directors aren't going to be throwing themselves out of windows because of Weta, but they are going to be using many of their techniques and programs (in particular MASSIVE, which was used for the battle scene in the prologue) for most special effects in the future. Jackson will likely be known as much for his special effects company as for his directing in the future.
Acting
Elijah Woods. Not an Oscar winning portrayal, but for an 18 year old child star, what a way to announce to Hollywood that you are ready to make the transition to adult acting.
John Rhys-Davis. Gimli was a played a bit dryer than I thought Rhys-Davies would have done. He is a wonderful actor, but I can't help but think of what Brian Blessed would have done with the role.
Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd. The new Martin and Lewis. Merry plays the perfect straight man to Pippins goof. I really look forward to seeing them in future episodes.
Hugo Weaving. Ok, I admit it. I couldn't stop seeing him as Agent Smith. Even when he welcomed Frodo to Rivendell I could not help but think "Hello Frodo Baggins, we've had our eye on you for quite some time." His status as a cult actor is set, but unfortunately it's not for Elrond.
Sound editing
Even though there were many excellent examples of sound editing (the thud of the ring whenever dropped, the screams of the ringwraiths, etc.) there were several times when the dialogue looked dubbed and the sound was muffled or mistimed.
The Average
Score. I have listened to Harry Shore's score by itself and it is wonderful and soaring. Unfortunate that it fails to help the film most of the time and, disappointingly, interferes with the film in two scenes. (The Wizards duel and the discovery of the main hall of Khazad-dum)
Acting
Cate Blanchett. *sigh* Galadriel should have been one of the greatest characters in the film, but Blanchett not only did not flesh out her dialogue, she barely kept it from spilling into camp.
The Bad
LOTH-LORIEN I know the film had to be cut, but this was a disfigurement. I went with 5 guys who had not read the books and they all commented that the Loth-Lorien scene seemed to have been chopped badly. Also, several commented on why Haldir had a five-o'clock shadow while no other elves appeared to have any facial hair at all. It felt like the Loth-Lorien sequence was the last to be shot and the first to be cut. This scene was jarring in my mind because of how good the rest of the movie was. The scene of Galadriel being tempted by the ring felt completely out of place.
OVERALL: 97 out of 100 in my book.
I can't quibble with a thing you wrote. My only real criticism of the movie is that I must wait another whole year to see the next one. sigh. I am anxious to get hubby's take on the movie because he has not read the books.
off to see it again!
Not a requisite for the story per se, it really has no bearing on the quest at this point to either destroy the ring or rescue Pippin and Merry, but it would have added more depth to Gimli :-)
Excellent review, brother!
All criticisms aside, the more intense and dark parts of the movie illuminated the book in a manner that was thrilling and exciting. The part about Moria mines was so excellent that alone would have been worth the price of the ticket. The opening scenes of the Elendil, Isildur and Sauron took your breath away. The initial views of Mordor are so intense and thrilling that I thought they were more enlightening than the book.
My son was with me and said it was the most "awesome" movie he ever saw. I would recommend this movie highly, but I would also caution anyone against taking an impressionable child in if they are at all a little concerned about nightmares. It could definitely give a child nightmares. The orcs were supremely creepy and disgusting and quite scary.
Give a child nightmares?
Heck, it gave THIS 27-year old child nightmares!! :-O
Sauron vs. Emperor Palpatine: "You are no match for the power of the Dar..." **SLICE**
You dirty dog...and I haven't seen it once yet! Just under 20 more hours! Man, it's killing me!
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