[amyrlis]

I have finally seen it! These are my thoughts:<P>(just some background notes: I am a big book fan and have read them many times. I went with my husband who read ½ of The Hobbit last year and is 100 pages into his first reading of FOTR.)<P>I really enjoyed it! It is a good movie, the acting is great, scenery is beautiful, and the special effects are amazing. It was surreal to see something I know so well and have been anticipating for so long brought to life. I LOVED Gandalf, Ian McKellen was exceptional. The corruption and lust caused by the Ring is portrayed very well in Bilbo and Boromir, anyone who hasn’t read the books will still understand it’s evil. The Balrog scene is fantastic and the Ringwraiths are terrifying. The hobbits are endearing, and the relationship between Frodo and Sam is well established – I look forward to their trek to Mordor. I was not bothered at all by Arwen’s amplified role, and was thrilled with the sub-titled elvish. Sean Been’s Boromir was very good, I could see his inner struggle, his departure was emotional – I’m sad he won’t be around for the next two installments. I loved the scene when Frodo asks Aragorn if he would be able to destroy the Ring.<P>There were a few things however, that I was not thrilled with. But this is just my own opinion based on my interpretation of the books. And, I’m not saying these were BAD things, just things I would have pictured differently.<P>Will you get it if you haven’t read the books? I was worried about this throughout the movie because I really wanted my husband to enjoy it. At the end he assured me that he had enjoyed the movie and understood the important things. But, he did not know much about the characters in the Fellowship and why they were chosen. It’s true, the movie does not introduce Boromir, Legolas and Gimli at the Council the way it needs to. Wish they would have spent a little more time on that. I know there was not a lot of development in the relationship between Legolas & Gimli, but having just reread FOTR, they really don’t have much to say in the book as well.<P>Elrond & Galadriel – they were so comforting and helpful to the Fellowship in the books. I did not really get that sense from them in the movie. Instead they were kind of strange and scary. The Lothlorien scene was so short! And the scene with Frodo offering Galadriel the Ring was a little overdone – I would have eased up on the special effects there.<P>But all in all, the true themes of the book are present in the movie – the evil of the Ring, the desperation of the Hobbit who carries the burden, the gentle wisdom of Gandalf and knowing that there’s more to him than meets the eye, Aragorn’s struggle with his humanity and his legacy, the enduring friendship of Frodo & Sam. Great job PJ and all who were involved. I look forward to owning it on DVD and seeing the next two movies.<P>Well, that’s my two cents. I’m sure that others have voiced similar opinions and I apologize if I’ve been redundant. I’ve been avoiding the Movie Thread until seeing the movie yesterday, and don’t have time to read all the posts in here. Hope everyone had a great holiday yesterday!<P>p.s. Kien – I think that they skipped the gift giving part in Lothlorien because I’ve heard the Scouring of the Shire part is not anticipated to be in ROTK – Sam won’t be using the soil. But, I thought I’d seen the gift giving in a trailer?