Saw the LOTR movie yesterday afternoon and I must say this is the best movie I have seen in a long time, if not ever. The special effects were spectacular, to say the least. I have been a big LOTR fan for the past 15 years or so. You have to read the Trilogy several times to completely understand it. Also, the Hobbit is a must read before you even begin to read the Trilogy so you may understand the story better. Also, "The Silmarillion" is a must read if you want to understand the origin of the ring and all of the characters involved. In the movie they mention several things that no one will understand unless they have read "The Silmarillion", such as when the Elves speak of their power diminishing and returning "to the West." The movie doesn't touch on the fact that if the "One Ring" is destroyed, then the Elves ring of power will lose it's power as well, rendering the Elves "powerless." When that occours, they must go back "to the West", to a land called Arda from where they originally came from shortly after "the beginning of time" and if they do not, they will lose their immortality.

Anyway, I was a bit apprehensive to see the movie, for there is no way they could have included everything. But, I was pleasantly surprised, as the movie followed the book closely. Only a couple of things were added that never took place in the book. Several things were left out, due to time constraints, I'm sure.

I sat in the back of the theatre. The movie was 2 hours and 58 minutes long, and not a single person got up to go to the bathroom the entire time! That should say something about the movie. I'm going to see the movie again this weekend, as I liked it so much.

For those who have never read the books, the movie may be a bit confusing. Peter Jackson attempted to give a short history lesson at the beginning of the movie, which turned out to be pretty good.

After the three movies come out over the next three years, there is so much room to expand on this story, such as the Star Wars Trilogy. I wonder if they'll make movies after all three movies are completed that are based on what happened BEFORE the Lord of the Rings, such as "The Hobbit" story. Each of the major characters has a complete story of their own that can be made in to movies as well.

THis movie definitely gets a "Two Thumbs Up!" from me.

http://cyclingcaptured.com

Hi Anthony

I really enjoyed reading The Hobbit and Lord of the rings.That was quit a few years ago. I came across a collectors edition series of the Trilogy a couple of years ago and saved it knowing I will read it once again.
I'm glad to hear the movie was good.It's hard for a movie to measure up to the book it's based on.I definately plan on seeing it.

Vera

A friend of mine is headed up here this weekend and we're going to go see it. From what I've seen it looks amazing. I haven't read Tolkien in quite awhile and have forgotten most of the details, but I decided to see the movie without knowing what happens. I think I'll enjoy it more that way. Oh, and with 87 reviews in RottenTomatoes, LoTR has a 97% fresh rating. Pretty impressive. (Even more impressive when you realize that one of the 3 bad ratings comes from a guy who gave Corky Romano a 3 star rating. )

I saw the Rotton Tomatoes reviews as well. I think this movie was way better than any of the Star Wars movies and will be a classic. Can't wait until it comes out on DVD.

http://cyclingcaptured.com

I loved the Hobbitt and the trilogy many years ago, and the Simarillion also. There was also a parody of it called Bored of the rings. If you read the trilogy the parody was quite humorous. Going to see the movie today hopefully.

RussH

All I can say is...
I WANNA GO SEE IT AGAIN... About 3-4 more times!!
Hopefully not from the front row again... Ack what a neck killer.


W@KK0
"Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."

"Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I'll remember. Involve me and I'll learn."

I first read the trilogy about 40 years ago - I know I was still at school), and have re-read it twice since then. So that's how long I've been waiting for the movie.

My son, aged 20, is an intelligent but lazy guy who lost all interest in reading for pleasure at an early age. I got him onto Lord of the Rings a couple of years ago, and he read it straight through - only took him 4 months, and now he reads a lot again.

We're going to see the movie together when it opens here after Christmas.

Insert text here

If I could only convince Beth to go with me. She was forced to read The Hobbit when she was in Elementary school and seems to be holding a grudge against Tolkien for it. She's absolutely refused to see the Lord of the Rings movie.

She will never know what she missed. My wife is the same way, she thinks she is too "smart" to read those kinds of books or see those kinds of movie. She's only interested in non-fiction. I talked her in to seeing the movie again with me this weekend

http://cyclingcaptured.com

first read it almost 35yrs. ago and have reread it many times since. i saw it yesterday and was amazed at how well it kept to the book. it would have been very easy to try an enhancment. my wife has never read the books but understood about all of it. she just could not understand why they ended it where they did..
honey - the fellowship was over.......
special effects were AWESOME

Ouch don't go there.. Laura went with me and I heard nothing but complaints from her after the movie about how unrealistic it was...

I was like, um hon.... thats the entire point of the MOVIE!...
Any who....


W@KK0
"Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."

"Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I'll remember. Involve me and I'll learn."

Man what a boring experience movies would be if everything was realistic! Indiana Jones would have lasted about 5 minutes and he would have died quickly. Star Wars would never have existed. And don't get me started on Jurassic Park!

Hi there. I LOVED the movie. My husband said "lets go see it!" I said nah not interested but he convinced me to go and I must say I am glad I went I cannot wait for the sequel to come out! The Theatre was PACKED. Sometimes you had to read things said on screen it was hilarious you could see every ones heads moving at the same time trying to read the screen LOL. Defenitely a good movie with great effects. I think I have some reading to do.

Billys24

I think I may be part of the reason she doesn't want to go. As the movie got closer and I kept hearing more and more good things about it, I might have talked just a tad too much about it to the point that I can't utter the words "Lord of the Rings" without ducking for cover now.

Hmmm . . . I don't know what would have given you that idea!?! Enough said!


Your loving wife who is sticking to her guns this time.
--Beth

--Beth

Sorry to say that I'm not going to lose any sleep over this one. As Jason mentioned I've read some of the books (yes a long time ago), and I didn't enjoy them. When watching the previews for the movie nothing really made me say, "Wow! I have to see this." In fact it really had the opposite reaction on me. I'd rather spend my money somewhere else . . . perhaps on text books for next semester Maybe I'll watch it when it comes out on DVD, but at this point I have no interest in fighting the crowds. I'm glad that Jason is able to go to the movie with his best friend and I hope it lives up to his expectations.

--Beth

--Beth

It's not going to happen. Here's my quote of the day:

"Too bad, so sad!"

--Beth

--Beth

Wanted to give my input here for a quick referance.

David -- "Oh my.... I see stars..."

LOTR - The Fellowship of the Ring.
OK, let me make this short and no giving of details.
This is on a 1 to 10 rating, 10 being the best possible.

Acting 9.5
Storyline 9.8
Sound 10
Originality 10
Special Effects 10
Attention to detail 9.9

OK the reasons the Storyline are a bit hemmed is that they deter away from the original books in minute details...
The acting was extremely well on almost every case... the only one I didn't like through out the Movie was the Elven King played by Mr Smith in Matrix. Talk about a dry actor.......
Attention to detail... There is one scene were the editors goofed and I caught it right away. There is a spot where Frodo is crying... First shot has 2 tears running down his face... the one on his right is at his chin, and the left is at his lips. Next screen shows the opposite with the higher tear at the bottom of his nose not yet at the mouth. I think the only reason I saw this mistakes as because I was actually watching the tears when they flipped the screen shots.

I was the only one to get up and use the rest room. Believe me, I wish I was wearing one of those adult diapers so I wouldn't have had too. At least I picked a spot where I knew they were just going to be talking about a small detail in the books.



W@KK0
"Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."

"Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I'll remember. Involve me and I'll learn."

I agree with you about Elrond (the Elven King). In the book, Elrond seemed to be "more friendly". The Matrix dude seemed to be somewhat of a prick in the movie.

http://cyclingcaptured.com

Like I said, he seemed like the ONLY character through out the movie was was miscasted or something else...

His screen personality from Matrix, just didn't fit the role of Elron. I can't say who would have been better for it either, maybe Rchard Moll ... I said elven king earlier not to confuse the people who haven't seen it yet. Besides weren't the elves suppose to be Taller than Gandolf?


W@KK0
"Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."

"Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I'll remember. Involve me and I'll learn."

W/O spoiling & on the editing end:

Check out the sequence of the arrows count with Boromir and the Orc encounter near the end.

Rabbi Bob
------------------------
http://www.rabbibob.com/
http://www.betamountain.org/

Rabbi Bob
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http://www.rabbibob.com/

Must have missed that cause I was paying attention to it..
Thought I saw all of them the whole time after the last was shot that landed.


W@KK0
"Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."

"Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I'll remember. Involve me and I'll learn."

Arrow #1 hit
Arrow #2 hit, camera pan away
Camera return, Arrow #1 visible, Arrow #2 hole & blood visible (no arrow)
Camera pan away, Arrow #3 hit (sound)
Camera return, Arrows #1, #2 & #3 all visible.

Our thoughts were that Boromir was definitely The Man and simply picked up Arrow #2, jamming it back in the hole to stop the bleeding!

Rabbi Bob
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http://www.rabbibob.com/

The movie was amazing. I'll be seeing it again next week.

Ian McKellan was an excellent choice for Gandalf. At times he just had that perfect facial expression that was so Gandalf lost in his own mind. Uncanny. Christopher Lee as Sauroman was just a great pick, too.

The portrayals of the Nazgul, Gollum and the Balrog were simply stunning. Even the Nazgul horses were something to look at. I could go on, but it's just be more of: <add name> was simply <add positive adjective>!

I'm very happy to say with a story that is so well known, they took a pretty good risk at recreating the book and I was very satisfied as any of the minor negative points were greatly outweighed by the overall great production that was done. But, they did go out of their way to mention the 'Hobbit weed' and 'oh look, MUSHROOMS!' two times each. Silly hobbits...

Now, to wait for the next movie and to decide 1) Do I buy the DVD when it comes out, or 2) wait until all three movies come out and buy the super-duper-uber-special-directors-bootleg-cut-DVD-box-set edition that should be out in 2004??

Rabbi Bob
------------------------
http://www.rabbibob.com/
http://www.betamountain.org/

Rabbi Bob
------------------------
http://www.rabbibob.com/

If any of you are interested in "Rings" pix, I found a bunch here
http://ftp.sunet.se/pub/pictures

OK where in that site?

And how? the last update on that site is Jun 2001. Uploads is on Dec 7 but none accessable.


W@KK0
"Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."

"Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I'll remember. Involve me and I'll learn."

Well, the pix I downloaded were on there long before the idea of the movie ever began. I searched for Fantasy and Tolkien, stuff like that. There wasn't a section just for the movie thing. Some of it I didn't even know was part of the "Rings" story. I stumbled onto this web site just by accident, not realising the connection.
I had never read the trilogy as a kid and am now just discovering the storyline...... There's a ton of posters and books and stuff at both Borders and Barnes & Noble....

I first read the Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings in 1974 and have read it several times since then. I've been looking forward to this movie for quite a some time. It was great, which is something not usually heard from someone who reads a book and then sees a movie based on it.

I was lucky enough to get a sneek preview of it at 11:30 pm tuesday night with only 10 other people . Got to sit dead center in the theater (it had stadium seating so I was also level with the center of the screen). And they cranked the volume way up, I thought the place would crash to the ground during some of the battle scenes .

MSU

Just wondering if anyone knows if there was an actor (who??) that playded Gollum or if it was a puppet or digital or whatever (haven't seen the movie yet)

Also, in my version of LOTR, the old cartoon/live action one, I always thought that Galdalf's battle with that dragon thing was really weak, is it better in the movie?? Thanks.

According to the magazine articles I've read, Gollum is totally CGI animation. Pretty impressive when you see it, especially the deep eye light reflection in one scene. The CGI in the movie was really well done and in only a few spots can u point the finger and say 'ok, that's digital and it looks it.'

Uhm, I think it's pretty much the same scene as the animated one, but with a load of special effects. Also, the Balrog no longer looks like an Earth, Wind & Fire circus reject with moth wings. He's big, he's bad and, well, I hope you get a chance to go and see it. I'm looking forward to the next movie to resolve that particular story arc as it does in the second book.

Rabbi Bob
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http://www.rabbibob.com/

...and the scenery?

No one mentioned the scenery ...

New Zealand seems to be a beautiful place!

http://cyclingcaptured.com