[The Saucepan Man]

Hmm ... difficult, but I'll try anyway.<P>As a film, I thought it was amazing. Absolutely stunning visualisation - the camerawork, the locations, the costumes, the overall 'look of it'. And excellent (on the whole) acting, Sean Astin in particular.<P>Well-paced, great action (those battle scenes) and, of course, out of this world special effects.<P>So, that's my view as a filmgoer. But, as a Tolkien fan, I couldn't help initially having reservations over the discrepancies. And I think it is valid to talk about them, when describing my thoughts on the film, because they affected my viewing of it. So, in the Ent scenes, I found myself thinking: "Hurry up, you'll never have time to get all the Huorns together and make it to Helms Deep in time to save the day". And "Elves? At Helms Deep? Surely not" (although it is a good way of conveying the elves' involvement in the War of the Ring since there is no reference to the assaults on Lorien). And, in the Faramir scenes, just when I was looking forward to that great dialogue beween Frodo, Sam and Faramir: "Hang on. Where are they going? Osgiliath? Eh?". (Actually, I didn't think the portrayal of Faramir was quite as bad as has been made out - he saw in time that Frodo and Sam should carry on their Quest and let the Ring go, despite the consequences for him. I think that this should set up well the scenes between him and Denethor in RotK.)<P>But during the film and after, I began thinking what many on this thread have already expressed. This is an adaptation/interpretation of the book for film and for filmgoers, many (most?) of whom will not have read the book. And on that level, I think it works very well indeed. Only problem is, I was too preoccupied by the discrepancies to fully enjoy what was a fantastic film. So, I'm off to see it again this weekend.<P>But the visualisation! Just as with FotR, I found myself marvelling at how the characters and locations were just I had visualised them when I first read the book some 25 years ago (except perhaps the elves, who I had always imagined as more other-worldly and less 'human like', rather than slightly effeminate with long blonde hair - sorry all you Legolas and Haldir fans out there .)<P>But - Edoras, Helms Deep, Henneth Annun/the Forbidden Pool, the Dead Marshes, the Black Gate - spot on. Just as I had imagined them all those years ago (I can't wait for Minas Tirith in RotK, after the snippets in FotR). And the characters too - except possibly Theoden, who I always imagined as older with a long snowy white beard, for some reason. <P>As for Gollum - well what can I say that hasn't been said already. Sublime acting (for acting it was). The Smeagol/Gollum scene was worth the ticket price itself. And the Ents - I always thought it would be diffcult to portray Treebeard without him just looking like a tree with a face and arms - but they pulled it off. And the Oliphaunt - noone's mentioned the Oliphanut ('though I wouldn't like to be one of the poor b*****s who has to sit in the 'castle' on top).<P>So, these are my thoughts. Sorry if they're a bit rambling. Overall, I have overcome initial disappointment at the changes to rate it as a great film. And I can't wait to see it again.