Posted on 12/19/2001 1:16:53 PM PST by NYS_Eric
Please no flames for starting another LOTR thread, but I don't see an active one right now for Freepers who just came back from viewing the picture today. I just got back and am very interested in everyone else's impressions.
My first thought while seeing it was just how perfect the casting was. Dang, could there have been a better Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas, or Saruman?
Merry and Pippen might have been portrayed as a touch too oafish just to get a couple of cheap laughs, but guess what-- it worked. They had me laughing quite a bit. They worked very well together.
And the balrog? The CGI special effects techie who came up with that should get bonus pay. I still can't wind down yet from this movie. Never felt I got more for my money in a very long time.
They owe you, personally, an apology?
Sean Bean has long been a favorite for his work on British TV as Mellors in Lady Chatterly, the officer up from the ranks in theSharpe series and a caddish husband in A Woman's Guide to Adultery. It was nice to see him on the big screen playing something other than an arch villian like 006 in Goldeneye and Kostner in Don't Say a Word)
As a BTW on Amy Grant, I've had your identical perspective. But there's a FReeper who seems to have some inside info, who has assured me most emphatically that she was the wronged party, that she put up with and worked with for a long time, and that her remarriage is a pure and good thing. I only report the news. I said that the least I'd have to say is she certainly handled the reporting of it wretchedly.
Dan
Dan
for me what tools are used to tell the story are much less important than the story itself. Go see it. don't delay. Movies that show this kind of stark moral clarity must be encouraged by the us Christians.
All the actors are extremely well cast and I especially took a fondness to Legolas - when you go see the movie watch his archery! it is breathtaking.
the only Actor that put me off was the agent from Matrix playing Elrond. I swear he used the same voice intonations for both movies. must be his Serious Dramatic Scene voice.
Go see it. Now.
Just got back from seeing it! I will not be sleeping tonight - what an incredible movie!!
I trust you are not going to leave it at that, so I wont freak out... You are going to compose a few more thoughts than THAT aren't you????
TLOTR:FOTR aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, immersion in a dream, reading bliss materialized.
Now to see it again and again, to own it hold it freeze each frame and bathe in it ...
Back to Middle-earth :-) aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh thank You God
My notes: INCREDIBLE casting, absolutely spot-on. The special effects were so seamless and believable that you did not have to work at suspension of disbelief... so much to praise. I'll have to sleep on it to be able to give a real review... :^) all in all: FANTASTIC!!!
I had qualms about some moments of the script writer's interpretation throughout my viewing. Yet somehow - when the film ended - my differences all seemed trivial. It was still the same story I remember. It spoke to me the same way. Some of the moments were so perfectly translated from book to screen it was sublime.
The casting and acting were superb. I'm still trying to decide whether McKellen's Gandalf, Mortenson's Aragorn, or Astin's Samwise was the best performance. The others weren't far behind. Even the unnamed extras were extremely good in this.
The special effects were so good you rarely noticed them. A few rough edges appeared (some landscape scenes around Isildur, part of the cave troll sequence). But the only thing that made those few moments of less-than-perfection noticable was the utter perfection of the rest of the effects in the film. The main effect on everyone's mind - hobbit sizing - was absolutely seemless.
The downside: Merry and Pippin were a bit more frequently comical than I expected. But they had their moments of seriousness, so they weren't portrayed as utter clowns. I wasn't terribly fond of Cate Blanchett's Galadriel. She seemed as powerful and fey as she ought to, but not nearly as charismatic and beautiful as Tolkein described. Fun characters from the book (Fatty Arbuckle, Farmer Maggot, Bombadil and Goldberry) were entirely missing. And you really missed the sense of distance. Everything felt compressed, both in time and space.
Yet despite the minor flaws I noticed, this is easily the best film I've seen in years. It's something worth seeing more than one at full price while still in the theatres. I can't wait to see the sequel.
Had to take time to calm down and settle my thoughts.
Most everything has been said already about this film, but here are a few primary impressions:
First of all, the casting is perfect. There were no weak links in the performances. Each character is almost exactly like I had pictured from the book. My favorites were Orlando Bloom as Legolas - "elvish" is the only way to describe the way he moved and carried himself - and Sean Bean as the tortured and conflicted, yet proud Boromir.
I loved the "Flight to the Ford" sequence. This has always been one of my favorite moments from the book - Frodo facing down the Nazgul alone - and I kind of regretted that it was being changed in the film. But once I saw it, I got chills down my spine. And the flood was so spot-on to my mental images, I almost wet my pants.
I was glad I had brought some Kleenex. Yes, this man is not ashamed to admit that this film made me weep, particularly during these scenes:
I am still on an emotional high after this, and will have to go see the movie several more times to fully absorb the experience. The long years of waiting are finally over, and were completely worth every moment.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.