[lindil]

I must confess one of my first impulses after seeing Matrix: revolutions was to come and post on the Downs! So thanks Iarhen for figuring out a thin veil ot tolkieninity to justify it. <P>First things first. <P>Matrix 1-3 are movies as are PJ's adaptations. Everything said about LotR in this post refers NOT to JRRT's writings.<P>I will begin with the fact that the Matrix 1-3 has one gigantic edge over the [PJ] LotR.<P>The Wachowski brothers are not 'adapting' [i.e. distorting] anything. They have their vision of their story.<P>The W. bro's need only live up to the level of the first movie. Opinions seem to vary on this to a far greater degree than the generally accepted opinion by most folks around here that Matrix I was pretty incredible. I consider Matrix I to be a a 99.9% perfect movie. Characters, concept, script/delivery [ "MRrrr. Anderson, it seems you have been living TWO lives...] spec effects, martial arts, the whole tone and feel were as close to a perfect creation as any movie has ever acheived for this aging reviewer.<P>FotR - I have opined at considerable length in the past on this forum so the short version is... theater version B-. Extended version, A-. <P>Sadly my appreciation of the Ext. FotR has gone up after seeing TTT. For me PJ gets very high grades for casting [Elrond being a notable exception] and scenery. The additional Rivendell and Lorien scenes in the Ext version where exactly what the FotR needed. More elvishness to balance the extremely expanded fighting scenes. <P>For me the 2nd Matrix movie was great. Not as perfect as I, but both stronger [density of plot, martial arts, character development] and weaker [script, delivery]. I saw it 3 times in the theater, and would have seen it a few more had circumstances allowed.<BR>The ending left me with dozens of Matrix cosmology questions that I enjoyed reading about and discussing with friends for the entire period between II and III.<P>In stark contrast, TTT left me wondering if PJ would 'adapt' the ROtK as poorly as he did TTT.<P>TTT stands less chance of improving with an extended version I am afraid, because it's sins are not of ommision, but of alteration.<BR>Everyone knows the list of griefs which the purists like myself are so scandalized by so I will refrain. A few more Treebeard scenes and a longer battle at Helms Deep [?!?] are to my mind unlikely to do much to repair the damage to the story caused by the gratuitous scenes of Wargs, Faramir's semi-evil twin etc, etc... Again the scenery was great, but PJ trying to imrove on JRRT is almost always the weakest points of the film. However when we get to see Howe and Lee's art come to life or Gandalf or Frodo deliver excellent lines PJ's assaults on the story are thankfully, for the moment forgotten.<P>Matrix III - <P>After II, I honestly expected more fights and destruction. III had the pleasant feel of old friends or lovers saying good bye for ever.<P>Nostalgic, reflective, sacrificial.<P>Many riddles are answered, most of it makes a fair bit if sense in terms of internal consistency, and the acting was superb. <P>One particularly nice touch was the dorky kid from Animatrix finally coming into his own in horrific circumstances.<P>---<BR> Oddly enough their were previews to the ROtK at the begining, and the could hardly have picked a more boring collection of scenes to include. OF course it hardly matters because if you saw 1 and 2 you will almost certainly see 3. <P>There did not seem to be too many changes [thank God] excepting the inevitable Aragorn <I>finally</I> gets Anduril and assumes the mantle of heir Isuldur which he should have had in the first book.<P>----<P>In short even though my heart is given to the Legendarium, the Matrix movies have so far proven a more enjoyable cinematic experience. <P>I would not take matrix 1-3 to a desert island as my only fiction, I would put the Silmarillion, LotR, UT, Tad Williams Otherland series and maybe one or 2 other things ahead of it [ such as Tim Zahns 5 post Return of the Jedi Star Wars books] but as far as Movies, for me Matrix I-III are standard for all other [action] movies to [for better or worse] be measured by.<P>one further thing, ironically enough, done more faithfully, the LotR did not even need to come off as primarily 'action' movies.<P>Had the original proportions in the books been adhered to more closely LotR would have been by and large unclassifiable [at least until RotK].