Guess we all know the book(s) so no surprises that it's got
wizards and hobbits in it, - I loved it, huge epic feel to the whoile
thing, some missing elements and changes there, which is inevitable, no Tom
Bombadil or Barrow Wights, Arwen takes Frodo on the desperate ride to
Rivendelll instead of Legolas, ( a desperate attempt to make more use of
one of the few female characters in the original) - some great
performances, MKellen, Holm and Wood all excell but the best is Lee's
Saruman, the landscape is the real star though, New Zealand become
Middle Earth, and every town and plain is lovingly created, The Shire,
Rivendell, Saruman's tree ravaged Orc mines, the towers, Mount Doom,
all superbly evoked, splendid use of the maps too, and the elvish
language ((Kosh says, what, Elvis is in it??? me - no, Kosh, Elves, not
Elvis) is neatly used, Galadrial is gorgeous,. good CGI when needed as
with the fire demon that claims Gandalf, and the whispy eiree world Frodo
enyters when he wears the ring, Gollum appears a few times in the wrong
places , also Bean's Boromir, though well presented is perhaps more
coawardly than he should be, - there is a tendency to have people covet
the ring from a sense of possession by Sauron, as thoughthe evil takles
over their personalities, that seems over stated to me, Bilbo is addicted
tot he ring from previous usage, Boromiir has a very fixes idea of his
own about how the ring should be used, (to rejuvenate the race of men, so
his action is not necessarily one of exorcist style possession, just
desperatation at a costly time) whent he fellowship has dissolved, the way
he is depicted as subjected to a timely possession by Sauron is over
done, Sauron himself comes across as a powerful force, a brooding air of
malice over the landscape, Frodo's occassional visions of the corner of
the eye, - in the early history of the ring he is seen in a terrific
suit of battle armour, stunning film, well crafted and can't wait for
The Two Towers, _ I did like the Bhakshi cartoon, which was sadly never
completed, but this looks set to got he distance and it is well worth
the journey - - hope they do Bored Of The Rings too, the book is back out with the blurb "Not a major motion picture' on it, but hope that changes soon, The Hobbit seems inevitable too once LOTR is done.

Arthur Chappell

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