LOTR

[damianip]

Anyone else see it yet?

As a true geek, I took the afternoon off to see it. No huge crowds to contend with.

Paolo

[Konstantinos]

MUAHAHAHA, i out geeked ya
Saw it at 12:01am here in San Antonio.
It was packed!
Good movie, even though some things pissed me off :\
overall, an A though...possibly due to the fact that the only contender is that semi-Live Action, semi-animation LOTR

[ 12-20-2001: Message edited by: Konstantinos ]</p>

[Buttercup]

I saw it 12:01 a.m. also. I bought my ticket a week ago. Good thing because it sold out. Enjoyed it. Though there were things I would have done differently. But for 3 hours I felt like I was in Middle Earth. I'm going to try see it again this weekend.

[Stryder]

I bought my tickets an hour before showtime. (9:30pm Wednesday) It's nice to live out in the woods.

Great movie, it could have been 3 hours longer.

[lochinvar]

Guess I'm not a true Geek, since I'm not planning on seeing it until the crowds thin out...

I have mixed feelings about all this.
Anyone who's been hooked on Tolkien for very long (1965, here) has his/her own vision of what the world and the people look like, sound like, and act like, and I'm no exception. I'm afraid that if I do go see it, I'll be angered/disappointed/saddened.
But, despite my trepidations, I'll probably have to go. My son is a film major, and he will definitely drag me. I hope I enjoy it.

[Mergs]

I'm with Loch on this, read and re-read since 1966, but I was the same way about all books turned to movies that I have experienced. I must say, though, that Tolkien did such a wonderful job of describing Middle Earth that I think everyone has the same mental picture of it an from all that I've read, this movie is strikingly true to that description.

[Cthulhu]

Scored tickets last FRiday for the 12:01am showing here. The place was packed full. I actually got into all my RenFest gear (including chainmail and leather armor), figuring there would be a lot more geeks like me doing it. Turns out that me and the wife were the only people in the theatre that did it.

The movie was great, and the changes they made worked out okay. The locations were absolutely stunning and looked exactly like I envisioned them when I read the book 18 years ago (and the 20 times since then), with the exception of Amon Sul. It still looked good though. My only beefs were the ommission of Mirrormere (the lake at the exit of Moria... something I always wanted to see, but a minor part in the book) and the shortening of the presents handed out by Galadriel.

Moria was every bit as exciting as I had hoped for and the balrog was absolutely amazing. The special effects throughout the movie were done so beautifully that you don't even notice them as such.

If you haven't seen the movie yet, run to your nearest theater now and see it immediately.

For all the other hard-core Tolkien fans, rest assured that IMO the movie did the book justice. The casting was excellent and the locations, well, see above. I was very worried about changes and bad casting, but I was pleasantly surprised. My major worry had been Arwen. She is getting a lot more screentime than she gets in the book, but they handled that very well. It doesn't detract from the story. And no, Arwen is not in the Fellowship of the Ring, as some Internet rumors claimed.

[ 12-20-2001: Message edited by: Cthulhu ]</p>

[Eileen]

I saw it last night.

Lochinar and Mergs...my worries exactly -- which is why after learning that Arwen was NOT going to have a major role in the film (something I had worried about as well, Cthulu)...I stayed away as much as I could from all reviews, etc. of the film and quietly held to my own cautiously optimistic view of the film.

I was not disappointed. I would say more but I hate spoilers.

I close with this though: GO WATCH IT. Love it or hate it you will not be forgiven as a Tolkien fan if you do not.

[HilandDoug]

I'm right there with Loch and Mergs, and I used to be a film student as well. I knew going in that there would be no way to put the whole book in the movie. My friends and I have been talking about making this movie since 1978. Heck, even back then, we had cast Christopher Lee as Sarumon! It was simply a joy to see some of Tolkien's visions on screen, and those thet were there in the theatre with me agreed that we all pretty much thought they'd look like they were portrayed.

Simply fabulous. A must-see. And the weapons were pretty cool, as well. And in true Geek fashion, I took the day off to see it at the first show in the morning, 11 a.m.

[ 12-20-2001: Message edited by: HilandDoug ]</p>

[Gav]

Yup I've seen it as well. I'l give it a B+. I think Peter Jackson is a very good director (anyone else seen Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles, Braindead etc) and has done well with the 1st book. I'm a huge fan of the books but I have to concede that the 1st book is the least of the 3. So I think he's done well with what he could.

I'm very glad that Arewn didn't have a huge role in the film but I'll reserve judgement on her character enhancement till I see the other films. All this stuff about the lack of decent lead females (and I'm sorry for offending anyone) is complete guff. What about Eowyn. She is a very strong character and pivotal to the story as a whole.

I'm also glad that the Uruk Hai character was also not raised to some prominent role. However I'm a little annoyed about some niggles in the plotting. WHy did they dumb the politics down? Why alter Saruman's motivation? Why did they omit the blindfolding section at Lothlorien (it's crucial to the friendship btween Gimli and Legolas) or Gimli's falling in love with Galadriel? I guess I'll have to wait and watch the other films.

My favourite part has to be weathertop. WOW. And then the Balrog...

[Cthulhu]

[quote]Originally posted by Gav:
<strong>(anyone else seen Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles, Braindead etc)</strong><hr></blockquote>

Haven't seen Meet the Feebles, but Braindead and Bad Taste were a mainstay during boot camp. One weekend, we were "on call", meaning we could not leave our room in case something happened. Nothing ever happened, so we ended up watching Braindead 8 times in a row.

[quote]I'm a huge fan of the books but I have to concede that the 1st book is the least of the 3. So I think he's done well with what he could. <hr></blockquote>

For me, the beginning of the book is kinda boring, but it really picks up once they get on the road. For me, the second book is a little more drab. But then again, there's cool battle scenes to look forward to. (Helm's Deep/Isengard).

[quote]All this stuff about the lack of decent lead females (and I'm sorry for offending anyone) is complete guff. What about Eowyn. She is a very strong character and pivotal to the story as a whole. <hr></blockquote>

Well, I think with Arwen it's not so much the "female lead thing" (although the first part needed a female lead for all the people who have not read the book). I think they expanded Arwen's role to provide a reasonable explanation as to why she shows up at the end of the 3rd movie and... umm... don't want to spoil this for anyone who hasn't read the novel... well... shows up at the end and does what she does. It would have been a little weird for the uninitiated if it would have been left the way it was.

[quote]I'm also glad that the Uruk Hai character was also not raised to some prominent role.<hr></blockquote>

Yup... but the makeup for that guy was excellent. Just to get my memory refreshed... did it say anywhere in the book that orcs don't have symmetrical faces? They seeemed a little too mongrel/igor-like to me. I do know that in the novel, orcs might not be the brightest bunch around, but they are not as growly/screachy as they were shown in the movie. Possibly just a means to portray them as meaner than they are...

[quote]However I'm a little annoyed about some niggles in the plotting. WHy did they dumb the politics down? Why alter Saruman's motivation?
<hr></blockquote>

Because it's a lot easier to spend a few pages detailing political stuff in a book than to spend a lot more time in a movie. I think Saruman's motivation will become clearer later on. The key points were brushed upon. While they did not explicitly state why Saruman is doing what he's doing, the fact that he sent the Orcs of the White Hand out to retrieve the hobbits speaks volumes, even for uninitiated viewers. They might elaborate on that in the second movie.

[quote]Why did they omit the blindfolding section at Lothlorien (it's crucial to the friendship btween Gimli and Legolas) or Gimli's falling in love with Galadriel?<hr></blockquote>

I was a little miffed about that myself. It's probably another case of "need to get the main plot moving". Plus, it might have confused people into thinking that Elves are pricks. As I said before, I wish they would have shown all the gifts to the fellowship. Gimli asking for a lock of hair was just too touching in the book. Of course this raises an interesting point for the third movie. Since Sam didn't get his seeds (at least not on screen), is the razing of the shire actually going to be shown or was the mirror sequence just a dream/might happen/throw all us fans off base thing?

[three_hundred_fifty_five]

For someone who has not read the book, I thought it was a good movie.
What I really look forward to are three movies they showed during the previews, Star Wars Episode II, the next Austin Powers movie and Spiderman. <img src="graemlins/jawa.gif" border="0" alt="[Jawa]" />

[Scaramouche]

My favorite part of this movie was the soundtrack. They had a really cool theme going on! And of course you gotta love the ending! In the theater I was in most of the people got really pissed off but you know what? It was great! If I had more money I'd go see it again tonight!

[Peach]

As someone who read the books umpty-million times (and yes, my sister and I learned and wrote to one another in Elvish for many years), I'd say this was a darn good version. Gandalf was wonderful. Frodo was perfectly cast (he should be a bit of a prig). Sean Astin makes a good Sam. They kept true to the spirit of the books. Only 2 complaints: the big shots where figures are walking through a landscape were clumsily animated, and Cate Blanchett, though a wonderful actress, made an oddly vapid Galadriel (plus the sequence where she covets the Ring is overblown--it was more subtle in the book).

Elves are waaaaay hot. And properly superior and snooty.

My daughter, who has read the books but not recently and who remembered them imperfectly, agreed that it was an excellent movie.

[HilandDoug]

And what about Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins? Academy Award performance, I tell you! If he's not nominated for best supporting actor, there ought to be a revolt! <img src="graemlins/evil3.gif" border="0" alt="[Evil 2]" />

[edew]

I out geeked all of you: I got free passes from NetApp for a special 8AM morning show. NetApp supplied the storage resources for the approx 5TB worth of data to create all the special effects. Free pass, free breakfast, and a free t-shirt.

It's clearly the best movie of the year (although this year's crop isn't the greatest among other years). Probably the best movie of the millennium, so far.

Quibbles? None, really. Except, where the hell was Tom Bombadil? (hey Craig, we need a hobbit smiley graemlin).

Certainly, it's better than any swill that George Lucas has made a la Star Wars.

I thought the opening scene's battle between the men/elves and the orcs was particularly good, and it helped explain the whole story in a fairly quick way (otherwise, we'd need a whole movie just to do that).

The Galadriel scene was kinda choppy, and may make for some tough reconnections by Part III (where was Frodo's elf rope? he'll need it to leash onto Gollum in Part II).

Sean Astin, after the movie magic shrinkage, looked like a small Chris Farley. Makes Elijah Wood's character into David Spade's straight-man for Sam Gamgee. Hope that doesn't happen in Part II's "Road to Mordor".

Also, the movie crucially missed the point at the end when Sam read Frodo's mind and went to the canoes instead of searching elsewhere.

Still, it was a great movie and I'll see it several times, just for the Moria scenes, at least.

When will Peter Jackson do the Gotterdammerung quadrology? How about Nicole Kidman as Brunnhilde? Julio Igleiasas as Wotan.

[edew]

[quote]Originally posted by HilandDoug:
<strong>And what about Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins? Academy Award performance, I tell you! If he's not nominated for best supporting actor, there ought to be a revolt! <img src="graemlins/evil3.gif" border="0" alt="[Evil 2]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>

Dunno if he'll be nominated, but I hear he's on the "short" list. Certainly, his work dwarfs all other supporting actors. Maybe his main competitor might be the mini-me clone of Austin Powers coming next summer.

[Cthulhu]

There quite a few more changes at the end than just Sam anticipating Frodo leaving. In the book, Frodo doesn't tell Aragorn either. As a matter of fact, he just up and goes, using the ring to mask his departure.

As with a lot of other changes, it was modified to appear more reasonable for uninitiated viewers.

The same would apply to Tom Bombadil. Even though there was an uproar and several petitions in the online community to keep him in the movie, it would have prolonged the movie and confused some people as to his purpose. To be honest, I had no big problem with him not being there, but then again, I would have loved to have seen the barrow-wight sequence or the Old Forest.

Maybe all the things that were chopped were actually filmed and will be on the DVD next year. <img src="graemlins/evild.gif" border="0" alt="[Evil]" />

[Christopher J Umbs]

Quick note here..

Tony Wolf, a fight director from NZ did a lot of work on LOTR and he's currently answering questions over at the Western Martial Art list.
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/western-arts/" target="_blank">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/western-arts/</a>

Chris

[Inquartata]

[quote]Originally posted by edew:
<strong>
When will Peter Jackson do the Gotterdammerung quadrology? </strong><hr></blockquote>


He'd risk getting pigeonholed as a "ring-obsessed" director...