[drigel]

I do like the prologue. Blanchettes voice using Treebeard's lines was good for me. A good introduction that in ME there are creatures, like elves, among others, that are undying, and can feel the passage of time in the air the water the stones, etc. It also sets the thing up like- "here in this early time, Im already feeling so old... " nice.

I too go back to the 1st cinema impression with the prologue. Also, it reminds me of that 1st cinema experience for that first Star Trek movie. That feeling of- Finally, the long wait is over- its here!!! PJ also sets up the anxiety ridden Tolkien geek as well as the nonTolkien movie goer. Kind of shows that the Tolkien geeks can rest easy for the rest of the film, as the sweeping grandeur of the works will not be ignored, or the interpretation wont be half hearted.

I know that PJ cant spend a prologue explaining the characters: "here is Elendil and GilGalad. Elrond is GilGalad's standard bearer and Isildur and Anarion are Elendil's sons"..... but the whole chopping off the fingerS of Sauron by Isildur seemed weak to me. Like, if it werent for the accidental chopping off of S's fingerS, all would have been a disaster. To me, the dramatics were already there: It was over, at that point. After a seven year seige, the forces of good won. Sauron came down after this fact was woefully obvious, and did battle with Elendil and GilGalad. Death came to all three. Isildur cut the ring off of the broken body of the defeated Sauron, and disregarding the advice from Elrond, kept it for himself. Seems that the plot line of how all things seemed to look wonderfull at the absolute victory of the war, except for one small thing.... could have worked out well there.