[Meela]

Return of the King was the first of the trilogy I saw on the opening night, and so was the first time I experienced the first-night frenzy. It gave me such a buzz, seeing hundreds of Lord of the Rings fans gathered in the theater. A lot of them were in costume or wore some sort of Tolkien token. It was great to be part of something that was special to so many of us.
I remember I took a notebook and pen with me so I could take notes about the movie (details of what was included, moments I'd read about beforehand, etc), and I was furiously scribbling down random words such as "heads!" "eek!" and "Gandalf to the rescue!" through the interval.
It was a frantic rush at the start, getting decent seats, braving certain death by trampling to get candy and novelty Pepsi cartons. I don't think I breathed properly until I emerged in the foyer several hours later, my tunic crumpled and picking bits of popcorn out of my hair (yes, I wore a Gondorian tunic. Nothing else would do). The evening was an adrenaline rush; the Tolkien fanatic's alternative to four consecutive bungee jumps.