Fond memories

[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.

[Jjudvven]

I agree. Although the movies didn't turn out to be everything they could be, around Christmastime of every year was a time of unparalleled excitement for me, and something that I will always remember. I only saw the Return of the King on opening night as well, but I will never forget any of the other times I saw the movies. I still have all my ticket stubs(and there are quite a few!).

[Lathriel]

I think one thing that will be funny is that in the future when ( for those who are still teenagers and in the early twenties) you have kids you can tell them... When I was young the LOTR movies came out etc. etc. etc.