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12-27-2001, 06:34 PM | #1 |
EIDRIORCQWSDAKLMED
DCWWTIWOATTOPWFIO Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Littleton, CO
Posts: 1,176
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Pluses and minuses, but the best film in history
The film is the best film I have seen in my life. Yes, Bombadil and Old Man Willow, the Barrow Downs and the house at Crickhollow and the seventeen-year stretch between Bilbo's departure and Frodo's departure from the Shire are gone, but I can bloody well forgive Peter Jackson. This IS Tolkien's world, NOT some creation loosely based on the incredible works of the Master.
I was going to be one of the hardest-to-please fans in the audience. I was really turned off when I learned that Liv Tyler had been cast as Arwen, and that Arwen would play a larger part in the story than in the books. However, I have to understand the strictures placed on Mr Jackson in trying to win audiences not familiar with the books, and that the studio probably pressed him to add more "eye candy" to keep the uninitiated interested. I was pleasantly surprised. Ms. Tyler did sterling work as Arwen, and the use of Arwen in the place of the Elf Lord Glorfindel was forgiveable. Any disappointments I had with the liberties taken with the Master's works were swept away as the film unfolded. The depth of imagination, the full texture of Middle Earth and the true feel of the story did come across, and strongly. Never before have I been so completely enchanted by a film, so completely absorbed for three hours. Mr Jackson outdid any director in film history in making this film, and his treatment of my favorite books, although not 100% accurate, is as close to the original as I could have hoped. The only let-down was that there were no previews of The Two Towers at the end of the film. I think uninitiated viewers may come away feeling unfulfilled, especially if they had no idea this is the first of three films. Christmas 2002 and 2003 cannot come fast enough. I quit waiting for Santa a long time ago; now I have reason for my heart to race at the thought of Yuletide, at least for the next two years. Bravo, Mr. Jackson, and may The Fellowship of the Ring sweep the Oscars! |