Posted on 12/22/2001 5:46:05 PM PST by Texas2step
OK, I've had 24 hours to try and get my thoughts together now since first seeing the movie. First, if you haven't seen this movie yet, GO GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!!! This is the most incredible movie experience period. Was it perfect? No. Was it the greatest movie of all time? Maybe, but probably not to most. Was it my favorite movie ever? I'll tell you after I watch it again next week, or maybe when I watch it again the week after that, but possibly, probably yes.
First let me set up "where I was at" - my perspective, my mindset in getting ready to watch the movie. I took my wife who was not familiar with LOTR at all. Not familiar with The Hobbit, Frodo, Gandalf, etc. Not only that, but by her own admission hates "movies where they wear the same clothes the whole movie". :-) She was not excited about seeing the movie, but went primarily to review whether or not we would allow our 10 year old daughter to go.
So, I had a couple of things on my mind as I watched the movie. I was concerned about my wife's reaction, and hoping that she wouldn't hate it, and I watched the movie intently with trying to determine if it would be unappropriate if my 10 year old daughter saw the movie.
I wish I could have seen this movie by myself, without having to be concerned with how someone I was with would react, and without evaluating the movie on the gore/violence/fright scale. But alas, I did not have that opportunity.
Also, I have read every single review, every article on Jackson, Tolkien, LOTR, etc. that I could get my hands on. I practically knew exactly what was going to happen throughout the movie. I knew what changes had been made, I knew when it was going to be scary, I knew when it was going to be sad. I wish now that I had not read so much detail and done more skimming.
So, now you know my distractions and my mindset. Even with this, even with extremely high expectations, I was literally blown away. I was so hyped about watching this movie, I didn't realize that the movie had started until about 30 seconds into Galadriel's prologue intro.
If you have not seen the movie, don't read any further. There will be "spoilers" throughout the rest of this "review".
What was perfect?
First and formost, casting and acting. I won't repeat the high praises of others who have mentioned the portrayals of Gandalf, Borimor, Bilbo, Sauraman, and Elrond, they are all excellent, no, perfect.
I've seen mixed reviews on Frodo, Galadriel, and Aragorn. I'm sorry, but whoever did not see these three as doing an awesome job, what on earth were you drinking?
Aragorn is absolutely perfect. The way he walks, the way he looks, the sense of growth from beginning to ending. By the end of the movie you see "the man who would be king".
Frodo, man, Woods did an incredible job. You sense the burden he picks up in Rivendell. You feel the weight of the ring he carries. You see the sense of foreboding in his eyes in the mountains of Caldaras. You see the assumption of responsibility in the way he carries himself when he comes to the decision to travel to Mount Doom alone. Absolutely perfection.
Galadriel is perfect as well. Having read the reviews and spoilers about the mirror scene, I was expecting some kind of hokey video game sequence with special effects. Yes, the special effects in this scene were "over the top", moreso than I remember from when reading the books, but it fit. It was perfect. I really enjoyed this scene more than I thought I would.
I have seen some who have been under impressed with the portrayal of Merry and Pippen. I disagree. Yes, they were the comic effect, but that's the impression I had of them from the book as well. I didn't mind the change in Moria where Pippen knocks the skeleton down the well instead of throwing a rock. I didn't mind the other subtle changes in their characters from the book. I think their portrayal was an enhancement and really added to the Fellowship. I can't wait to see how they hold up in the hands of the orcs in the Two Towers.
Acting was absolutely perfect.
What about special effects?
Great - when Frodo wears the ring, the size of the hobbits, the cave troll was much, much scarier than I expected, epic battle scenes, the entire Mines of Moria scene was mindblowing, scene with Galadriel, the Ringwraiths at the ford, scene with Bilbo & Frodo in Rivendell, and more.
I didn't see any poor special effects. None. The balrog did not meet my expectations, however. I expected to be frightened.
The cinematography was the best I've ever seen. Period. The settings were the best I've ever seen. Period. The level of detail was the best I've ever seen. Period.
My only disappointments? It's funny, I'm not a huge Tolkien fan. I am a fan of fantasy/sci-fi, less so now than when I was younger, but I've read lots of it. I didn't expect changes to Tolkien's work to be among my disappointments. However, I do feel that the changes were necessary. This movie cannot be perfect without it being 4 hours in length. It's just not possible. There's nothing in it I would take out. But there's a ton I wanted to add back in. It did not feel like a three hour movie. As the Fellowship left the Mines of Moria, I felt like we were probably about 90 minutes into the movie and had 90 left. But I looked at my watch, over 2 hours had gone by.
I was a bit disappointed with the Forest of Loth-Lorien. It was way too short. I wanted to stay and explore this incredible forest. Where was Sam when Frodo and Galadriel were looking into the mirror??? I missed this immensely, and I knew ahead of time that Sam wasn't going to be there in the movie. The whole scene in Loth-Lorien was way too short. Where were the gifts to each of the fellowship? I knew that this was cut from the movie, and I knew that Galadriel's scene with Gimli was cut, but I missed it sorely.
Speaking of Gimli. I thought he was shorted in this movie. My memory of Gimli and Legolas was larger than what I saw. The actors did great. They just weren't given enough screen time. I do hope that they see expansions of their roles to the rightful place for The Two Towers. Their growing friendship is part of my favorite things of LOTR, and we didn't get to see much of that in this movie.
There's more, but I really have to go. It's all trivial, but to me it seemed very rushed. I wanted to bask in the travels of the fellowship. I wanted to enjoy the sights that we got to behold. I understand the the general movie going audience would probably not stand for a four hour movie, but I sure could have.
In summary, my wife like it a lot. If I can get her to go back, I do believe she would enjoy it more. Her ONLY complaint was the lack of an "ending" and lack of closure. I should have warned her, and I thought I had, but she spent the last 20 minutes of the movie going "they better get going, there's a long way to go before it's through", etc.
We did agree, after much discussion, and a night to sleep on it that our daughter can see it. I will take her on a father/daughter date next week. She's excited.
My favorite parts of the movie was the Ringwraith's in pursuit of the Hobbits. Fantastic. The black blood on the horses hooves. It gives me chills. The level of detail throughout. Wow.
Why do you think that "Empire Strikes Back" had any more of a discernable ending than "The Fellowship of the Ring"? I believe TFOTR has a more defined ending than TESB because this movie is about the creation and the eventual destruction of the Fellowship. On the other hand, TESB seems to hang in the air, waiting for ROTJ (don't get me wrong, I think TESB is easily the best of the SW films).
My only real effects "beef" was with the height of the hobbits. In some of the "helicopter" shots, the Hobbits looked less than 3.5 feet tall but in the "closer" scenes, they only seemed a foot or 2 shorter than their elf or human counterparts (humans being 6' and elves being even taller). That's the only effect that stuck out as being "odd"... Can't wait for the DVD!
Saw it last night with my wife, 6 y/o and 13 y/o daughters, neither of whom had read the books.
We all LOVED it, though my 6 year old had her jacket over her face more than a couple of times.
It is amazing, and when I left the movie, it occurred to me that reading the book, the emotional point of the scenes sometimes gets lost in the details.
Made me think other movies like "Star Wars" were emotionally shallow.
After reading Jackson’s biography, I would also would say rather surprisingly, this is HIS FIRST PROJECT of any note!
We just loved the level of detail. The cinematographers and special effects crew will get Oscars even if no-one else does. The scenes in the bowels of Isengard were really something, as was the Moria sequence. I'd have loved to see Tom Bombadil and the barrows, but the story does not really suffer from their absence. I don;t really object to Arwen's expanded role either.
The best of the actors was Sean Bean as Boromir-- utterly believable. I didn't care much for the guy who played Sam Gamgee, but to be fair, some of his dialogue in the book is rather hokey too.
Can't wait for the director's cut DVD version of all three flicks.
-ccm
I do think though that it is absurd that we have to wait a year for the next one, to continue the story. Too long a time. Six months maybe, but a year??
The prologue was so well done, I believe anyone who has not read the books will get a good sense of the 'back story'. Hobbiton was wonderful, just the right pastoral look, and I believe Elijah Wood was WONDERFUL as Frodo as was Sean Astin as Sam Gamgee. I was concerned about how he would sound, but he was great and his 'Mr. Frodo' seemed so natural for him to say! I loved Merry and Pippin! They were comic relief in the book as well, so the cutting up on screen wasn't unexpected. But they sure came through when needed. Ian Holm was great as Bilbo, but he's just a great actor anyway! I loved Aragorn and Arwen, and I had no problem with the beefing up of her part. All I can say about the flood at the ford is WHOA!
Ian McKellan was outstanding as Gandalf. His eyes are so very expressive, and just a few muscle twitches in his face speak VOLUMES! But I must say, my favorite was Sean Bean as Boromir. He is so conflicted all throught the movie, and his 'redemption' at the end found me with tears streaming down my face. Sir SuziQ laughed when it was over saying he'd seen more kssing, hugging and crying by men in the last 5 minutes than he'd EVER seen in a movie!We went out to eat afterwards and my eyes must have been so swollen! I got fahklempt several times during the movie.
My daughter and I plan to go see it again in the next couple of weeks. Our youngest son wasn't too bowled over by it, so he and Sir SuziQ are going see Jimmy Neutron next week instead. I am enjoying listening to the soundtrack, and keep trying to remember what was happening when I hear the music. My favorites are "The Bridge at Khazad Dum' and "In Dreams" sung by the boy at the very end. I was surprised at first because the Enya song came on just as the credits began rolling and I thought they weren't going to do the the other one, but "In Dreams" camees just after and went almost to the end of the credits as was more fitting anyway. As you can tell, the girls loved it; even our two college guys liked it a lot! It was WELL WORTH the wait!
While I wouldn't call it an outright disappointment, it was not incredible, and sometimes got in the way.
Maybe it was just my theater, but there were at least two times when the music was louder than the actors and I couldn't hear the dialogue. Ticked me off.
Interesting you should mention that movie. We just got in in from Netflix, and are going to watch it in the next couple of days. Our daughter is 'into' Japanese stuff in a major way, anime, learning kanji, etc. and she asked last week about Kurusawa. I remembered about Ran and Samurai, so I got Samurai. I didn't look to see if it were 'restored', though if they bothered to put in DVD, it must be.
Actually, in the book, when Sam looks in the mirror, he sees what could/may happen to the Shire. The movie basically has Frodo seeing what Sam had seen. I would rather have had Sam do this to add some motivation for his following Frodo to the ends of the earth, which is why it was like that in the book, in my opinion.
They easily could have included Sam in this scene without adding too much time to the movie, I thought. Just as they could have easily added the giving of gifts at Loth-Lorien without adding to much time, as well.
I'll need to sleep on it, and see it again, before I can accurately describe my reactions. Its certainly the best movie experience I've ever had. What's odd is that even though I had read all the reviews and such, I was completely unprepared for the sheer magnitude of the movie. It sneaks up on you. The emotional depth of the movie is such that by the end we were completely exhausted and wired as well.
Also, I had heard so many positive comments about the Nazgul and the Moria sequence that these parts, while wonderful, didn't impress me nearly as much as other sequences. I agree that its the less acclaimed performances - Galadriel, Gimli, Frodo, Aragorn - that left a huge impression simply because they were so much better than I expected after reading reviews. Simply put, there was not a single poor performance in the movie.
A few more random musings:
Sauron is terrifying, although the first scene of the eye, when Gandalf tries to pick up the ring, I didn't realize it was an eye.
Rosie Cotton is very fetching. How can anyone think Sam is gay? The scene with Frodo and Sam in the boat has such emotional truth, such humanity. I don't think I've seen a more touching moment in film.
I think Jackson did a wonderful job with the movie as an interpretation of the book, understanding the limitations and strengths of film as a medium. Since he couldn't spend time on the long "strategy sessions" - the Council of Elrond, the decision to go through Moria - or the "respites" - the time in the wilderness with Strider, finding the troll statues, the Fellowship's first journey south, Lothlorien, the days on Anduin - he compresses the story but recognizes, and plays to, the fact that this will cause the feeling of "fleeing from danger to greater danger" to come forward. The movie maintains an incredible sense of the precariousness of the quest that Jackson plays for all its worth, the utter hopelessness of the journey and the constant threat adds to the film greatly.
I would have thought that if you didn't know the books you'd miss SO MUCH, but my wife seemed to have gotten almost everything. The backstory of the kingship of Gondor, who Boromir's father was, what the Uruk Hai were, and so on. One part I wished had been included was more background on Balin's expedition to Moria. It would add much to Gimli's scene at his tomb.
I think the Balrog was perfect. The whip!
I think that the "crumbling stairs" scene felt misplaced.
I was SO HAPPY they included the eagle! But the butterfly was weird.
It ripped my heart out to see all those beautiful trees of Isengard ripped down.
The Nazgul didn't seem powerful enough, although I always had trouble with the Weathertop scene in the book as well and Aragorn's ability to drive them off. I wish they would have included a shot of Frodo in "ring consciousness" seeing Aragorn come up with the torch, looking like a great king. Where did he get the torches when Frodo had extinguished the fire? The robes catching on fire seemed a little cheesy.
I thought all the Arwen scenes were great, even the "she elf" comment.
I understand people loving Gandalf, and Boromir, and Bilbo, and Sam. But I think Frodo really carried the film and pulled off an incredibly difficult task, making you sympathize with the depth of the challenge facing him.
I also think the Galadriel scene "worked", strange and unexpected as it was. I don't think Sam's absence mattered since her opinion of him was hinted at in her introductory comments.
I'll post on this separately sometime, but I think that Jackson executed a VERY Christian conception of the nature of evil. Evil has a kind of wicked vitality at one level, best exemplified in the Uruk Hai, that can only be maintained through the kind of "stretching" that happens to the Nazgul and Gollum. My wife said the chilling thing about the Uruk Hai is that despite their evilness they exuded a kind of animal sexuality. Like taking the winter's worth of wood and throwing it on a bonfire all at once. The one piece that ran counter to this was the change in the Saruman plot line. It would have been nice to see him still as the symbol of modernity that believes it is possible to compromise with evil, to use it devices - orcs and even the Ring - against it. Since they made him a declared ally of Sauron instead that can't add this layer. Oh well.
2 other nice Christian allusions - Gandalf crossing his staff and sword on the bridge, and especially (very noticable to an Orthodox Christian!) Aragorn's blessing that is VERY reminiscent of the making of the sign of the cross. He does it head to lips, but it looks just like he's going to go head to heart, and the Orthodox and Catholics would finish it shoulder to shoulder. The prayerfulness of his countenance the two times he does it also very reminiscent of the demeanor of Christians when crossing themselves.
Poor Boromir! Those arrows must have hurt like hell. What a perfect death scene. I also liked the added scene with Aragorn and Frodo, since it gives Jackson the chance to visually demonstrate that Aragorn is a greater man than Boromir in that he is able to resist the Ring when Boromir could not.
For the most part, I thought the sound and score complimented the movie well. However, Boromir's horn... Yuck.
Loved that they included so many small but important moments that happen off-stage in the book. Gollum in Mordor, Gandalf in the library of Minas Tirith, Saruman's palantir. Great touches all. Can't wait for the Two Towers.
NOW I understand what a Freeper meant when they said "the Ring is a character." It would have been so easy to just cast the ring as the excuse for the quest, and forget about it. Kudos to Jackson for getting this part exactly right, and not coming right out and saying that the traitor amongst the Fellowship isn't Boromir, or one of the 9 at all. It is the Ring. Again, a VERY Christian conception of evil - the corruption of sin close to the heart of even those most dedicated to good.
Hope you all enjoy it over and over, and I look forward to many future LOTR discussions.
The Road goes ever on and on...
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