As a Christmas treat, My BIL and Sil came over and watched our kids so we could go out-=they said "You MUST see "Lord of the Rings" Now, I'm not a big Movie Fan, and I'm not a big Fantasy fan, though I love mythology and I love the Tolkein books, but Frankly, I would have prefered to do something else on a afternoon out. (I wanted to go to Hobby Lobby) Anyway, Hubby really wanted to see it and I had heard lots of good things so....

This movie is INCREDABLE!!!!!I cannot even begin to describe it, except to say that it is a Three hour movie(!!!!!) and at the end I couldn't believe we had been there that long. It does not follow the books exactly-If your a purist, you'll be upset, but it certainly captures the spirit of the book-the Shire is wonderful, the Hobbit children are adorable, (I want one!) The ring-wraithes are the scariest things I have ever seen, the orcs are way creepy and discusting and the Elves are, well, very elvish.

Unfortunantly, I cannot recommend this movie for children-I certainly would not take my kids to see it for quite a while-though we are allready planning to buy the set when it comes out. There is no foul language, there are no "steamy" scenes and while there is, of course, violence, its not gratitous, and probably nothing worse than what kids have allready seen, (On prime time TV no less,) but it is VERY intense-its rather like riding a rollercoaster-I gripped the arms of my chair the whole time_and I knew how the thing would end! You really feel a sense of evil, and you really really, want the good guys to win!!!

We are all now reading Tolkien, as a result. My SIL had not read any of the books, she's starting with the Hobbit. MY BIL and I have read them, but its been a while, we are both re-reading starting with the Fellowship of the Ring. My husband, Knowing the movie was coming our, had re-read them over the summer, when he was recovering from a nastly sinus infection. So, during this "Limbo" week-its way to cold to go outside, we have sat around reading.

-- Kelly (Ksaderholm@yahoo.com), December 28, 2001

Answers

Thanks for the info, Kelly! I've been wanting to see LOTR ever since I saw the first trailer for it. It looks great! Hopefully I'll get to go sometime next week.

-- Cheryl in KS (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), December 28, 2001.

I loved the movie too, Kelly. Going to go again soon!

I first read the trilogy about 31 years ago, and for a long time, I re-read it almost yearly. Now I've not cracked them open for over ten years. And I purposely didn't read them again with this movie coming -- I wanted to experience it first. Ian McKellen (plays Gandalf) suggests seeing the movie, then starting the trilogy -- if you haven't already read it that is. I personally would recommend starting with The Hobbit and then the trilogy. :-)

Yes, they left whole bunches of things out. Some that I was happy to dispense with (Tom Bombadil), others that really should have still been there (Galadrial's gifts to the Fellowship). I've been visiting websites, and what I've gleaned is that the director had the movie pared down to 3 & 1/2 hours, but the studio (New Line) required the movie to be under 3 hours (it runs 2 hours 58 minutes -- lol!), so I think that is where some of those things went. Speculation is that there will be a DVD (and video?) edition with the missing footage restored.

The scenery is also very gorgeous -- certainly makes me want to visit New Zealand where it was filmed!

-- Joy F {Southern Wisconsin} (CatFlunky@excite.com), December 29, 2001.

I agree. It worth going to see. I really enjoyed it. It followed the book better than most movies do. If I find the money I would not mind seeing it again. I would not let my kids see it yet either.

-- Tom (Calfarm@msn.com), December 29, 2001.