Lord of the Rings ----------------- Elfs are hot, baby! Check this thing out; even if you have not read the books, you will enjoy this film if you are into fantasy or even action. Pretty much true to the books, though I will say the books are better of course. The books are beautiful and will break your heart. There was not really any part of the movie that stirred up any strong emotion like the books did, i.e., pissed me off or caused me to weep into my lacey hanky. I suppose this is more of an action-oriented film which is also fine, but I prefer the emotional /fantasy aspect. Clearly, this is an individual preference, though if you can achieve both, then that is the ideal. . Give me poetry, baby! Such as the elf-speak, very melodic and engaging- well done! The scene that evoked the most emotion from me was the fight scene where Strider beheads the lead goblin. My adrenaline was rushing on that, yeah! The balrog scene is a scary ride and the scenes about the draw of the power of the ring with Galadriel and Bilbo are intensely weird! The pacing in the other parts of the film could pick up a bit. Of course, I am a pacing junkie, and I am not 100% happy unless I am breathless and am able to get totally lost in a film. The effects are good except for the octopus thing which kind of sucked in the same way that the snake in anaconda sucked. The precise motion is not properly timed and so looks fake. Usually, it too fast or the movements are all at the same speed, or there is not enough depth in the animation to achieve something that actually looks three-dimensional. Where is Ray Harryhausen when you need him? :) All of the other sets are fabulous. It is amazing how closely the sets and characters matched the picture of my minds eye when I was reading the books; really quite uncanny. Probably because Tolkien is such a tasty author and describes things so precisely and beautifully that they imbed into your heart and subconscious. Casting is great, though I really must say that I pictured Strider/Aragorn as being a bit darker and more emotionally intense; not just a pretty face. Really, the actor playing Boromir had more passion, intensity, and screen presence. All other casting blew me away. The hobbits were totally believable with their little furry feet! Cool attention to some fun little points like Legolas the elf not sinking into the snow while walking on it and the mithril armor. I liked the fact that the film did not try to pander to kids at all (ala jarjar binks). Lucas should let the LOTR people help him out on the rest of the star wars trilogy prequels. Especially since they are done with the LOTR trilogy right now, having filmed all three segments in one shot . The LOTR people should consider cranking off a 'The Hobbit' prequel too and while they're at it, 'The Silmarillion' just for laughs. The LOTR sequels should be good too if gollum does not turn out to be some half-assed jarjar thing :-). It was good that they left gollum as dark and mysterious in this one, all to be revealed in II. some things missing: Galadriel's lock of hair as a gift; one of the best parts of the book. Tasty and long-lasting light elf wafers that raise one's spirit -yum!. Absence of Tom Bombadil; of course my favorite character in the book. And needless to say, Sam's special relationship with his pony :-). Also, we need more screen time devoted to elfs partying down and playing their unique music. a minor issue: Boromir's funereal boat goes over a waterfall in the movie which is a good visual. Though having his rider kinsmen find the barge and know that he is dead, a major blow to their cause, would have been better and more touching, but hey this flick was already a three hour tour! But really some of the gratuitous battle time could have been cut out in favor of these tasty bits . Surely one of the cuts of Sauron's hand flying into the air with the ring on it could be sacrificed :-) another minor issue: More could have been done to portray the initial conflict between the elf Legolas and the dwarf Gimli & then how incidents in the book forged a bond between them. And then how that grew into mutual respect and later a deep friendship. To me, these things were what made the books great and the film suffers to some extent by focusing on the action rather than the character development. son of yet another minor issue: would have been better to have Frodo struggle to save himself while crossing the river, not even knowing that there were elfin forces on the other side helping him out . We need to see him as an individual struggling, doubting and doing it anyway, and quickening into the fulfillment of his destiny! I can see why Arwen was substituted into the scene in order to tighten the film and save time, but really the scene was less than it should have been by leaving Frodo a pawn. Didn't really notice the soundtrack except for the opening credits, so I can't really say that the soundtrack is a tasty thing like star wars I. Overall, the film rates raging wood on the bone-a-rama viewing scale. 10/10 in spite of my nitpicky stuff. A must-see film to be seen multiple times on the big screen.