I asked Scots to tell me all about LOTR after
he had seen it, and in answering my request
he spent all day composing this huge email. I
posted his review here because 1) he said I
could if I wanted to and 2) I thought some of
his viewpoints were interesting. No holds
barred, though; this has lots of movie spoilers
in it so don't read it if you don't want the movie
explained in-depth. I personally have read the
books many times and didn't think knowing
this information would spoil the movie for me
when I do see it.

__Begin Scottish Review :o)__

I have assumed that the reader (like you) is
already familier with the story, so I am not
including a synopsis (aside from new scenes
not written by Tolkien). Warning: This review
DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!

-----------------------------------------

PETER JACKSON'S INTERPRETATION OF
J.R.R. TOLKIEN'S THE LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING

Let me start this review by saying something
straight off -- I thoroughly enjoyed this movie,
and I dare anyone to attempt to recreate
Tolkien's books as effectively and still remain
fiscally viable. The movie runs at a hefty two
hours and 50 some-odd minutes, yet it
doesn't feel like you have been sitting there for
almost three hours when the credits roll. The
movie is a feast to the eyes and contains
many images of wizardry, evil, and power, yet
remains believable within the bounds of the
Middle Earth mythos. This said, I would give
the movie an A-, or four to four and a half stars
out of five. I will separate out the positives and
negatives below. Let's start with the positive
first:

PROS:

The biggest credit I can give Peter Jackson is
that he attempted to put a work as mammoth
as LOTR to celluloid in the first place. That in
and of itself is a gigantic undertaking, not to
mention having to deal with legions of rabid
fans out there that know every last nuance and
crossed "T" in the books. (read: ME!) I sense
from the movie a genuine attempt to remain
faithful to what Tolkien wrote, while still
bringing a fresh perspective in places and
tightening up the action in others to make the
story adaptable to screen. The characters,
almost without exception, are EXACTLY what I
had envisioned in my mind's eye from the
books. It was uncanny. (The one minor
exception to this was Boromir. I envisioned
him with black hair. Oh, well.) The Shire was
much more rural than I had imagined, but not
unfittingly so. I figure that this was a case of
my interpretation being off, not the other way
around. Bree, and Rivendell were both pretty
much as I had imagined them, thoug!
h Rivendell had much more open spaces than
I had conjured up. Once again, this is not
necessarily a bad thing. The two locations
that have utterly changed my interpretation of
Tolkien in the first book are Aman Sul
(Weathertop - though not called such in the
movie) and the Barad-Dur itself. Aman Sul I
had always pictured as a green rolling hill,
largely flat, with a few jumbled stones on it
roughly shaped in a ring. A ruin that had
almost vanished by the sheer passage of
time. Peter Jackson's version had a lot more
ruin, and far less green. The tower ruin was
about one story high, standing on a rocky crag
thrust out of the ground like a displaced fist
from a distant mountain. Ancient statues still
stood within the ring, and crumbling arches
provided entrance points for the Nazgul when
the Hobbits and Strider are attacked. Very well
done. The other location, Barad-Dur, was
stunning. My vision of the Dark Tower was
largely based on the now-seen-as-lame
picture on the!
front of my Ballentine copy of Return of the
King - Yes, it was drawn by Tolkien himself,
but if Tolkien had seen the 2001 version of the
Dark Tower, he would have agreed with me.
Black as jet, this imposing fortress was
obviously a residence worthy of Sauron the
Terrible, Tyrant of Middle-Earth. Surrounded
by a moat of molten lava flowing down from
the (relatively) nearby Mt. Doom, the fortress
had innumerable towers jutting out from its
ramparts, and thousands of windows
illuminated with flickering torchlight.
Surrounding the tower proper were chasms
filled with orcs building war machines for their
master. And above all, seen several times
during the movie through the influence of the
One Ring, the presence of Sauron is seen as
a menacing force desperately seeking to
recover his lost treasure. Shown exactly as
described in the books, Frodo espies the Dark
Lord as a bloodshot yellow eye ringed with
fire, with a cat's-eye pupil and surrounded with
choking black smoke.

As far as the storyline is concerned, the best
adjustment that Peter Jackson made to
Tolkien's story, in my opinion, is that the Ring
is made to seem MUCH more sinister than it
ever appeared to me in the books. When I
read the LOTR trilogy, I always wound up a
little annoyed with Frodo, starting around the
Dead Marshes sequence, regarding his
constant complaining that he simply can't take
one more step. I knew the ring was evil and
that its influence was affecting Frodo, but there
is evil and then there is EVIL (*insert gravelly
bass voice here*). Starting with the very
beginning, Jackson has brought the ring's
sinisterness to the forefront, so that when
Gandalf is afraid to simply touch the ring, it is
utterly believeable and completely
understandable. One of the positive
departures from the books in my belief is that
instead of the ring getting put in an envelope
onto the mantlepiece to await Frodo, Bilbo lets
go of the ring through great struggle by
dropping it onto t!
he floor. There it is left by Gandalf until Frodo
arrives. Frodo then places the ring into the
envelope which is then wax-sealed by Gandalf
(offering an explanation as to why Frodo was
never tempted to wear the ring during the 17
years of Gandalf's absence later). When
Gandalf finally returns, he never actually
touches the ring when testing it in the fire -- he
simply throws the aforementioned sealed
envelope into the fire, which then burns
around the ring. I am beginning to wish that
Tolkien had actually written the scene that way
-- it was very well done. There is a
split-second when Gandalf touches the ring,
right after Bilbo had left. For the barest of
instants, the Eye of Sauron flashes on the
screen, catching everyone off guard. Gandalf
jerks back, and everyone instantly is made
aware of the impossiblity of Gandalf being the
keeper of the One -- he is simply too powerful
and would be instantly revealed to the Enemy.

Another well-done sequence is the scene with
Galadriel and her mirror. The whole Dark
Queen "all will love me and dispair" bit was
chilling. They made no mention that she was
the keeper of Nenya, but Jackson revealed
Galadriel in her power and desire for the ring.
Sam was missing in that sequence, but since
I have heard rumors about the epilogue
sequence being removed from Return of the
King, that makes sense. No mention of any
gifts given the fellowship other than the phial
of Galadriel. (The cloaks are seen on-screen,
but no reference is made to them being
magical or concealing.)

And last but not least, the most amazing
sequence in the movie is, in my opinion, the
Moria sequence with the cave troll and the
balrog. Moria was far more dangerous and
haunting than I had imagined in my mind's
eye; I had thought of a couple instances of
corpses, such as the ones that were in the
guard room with the well (a scene which is
merged with the Tomb of Balin sequence
later). Peter Jackson had the place littered
with them. Moria also was far more run-down
than I had imagined it, more like an
underground ruin than a vacant city. The
depiction of the cave troll in the Tomb of Balin
was flawless -- the sequence was gripping,
and I actually found myself fearing for Frodo's
life, even though I knew what was going to
happen! The scene took much longer than
depicted in the books -- Jackson actually had
the hobbits helping to defeat the creature
instead of being passive tag-alongs along the
way. I know this is a slight departure from
Tolkien -- Merry and Pippin had !
said how they felt like "baggage" numerous
times, but I think since their bravery during the
Old Forest and Tom Bombadil sequences
was deleted, it helps rebuild the characters a
little. Also, Jackson had inserted a section
just after leaving the tomb where the stairs
that the company races down start crumbling
and the Fellowship winds up jumping across
a chasm that is hundreds of feet high. This
also helps build the bravery of the hobbits.
When I first saw the scene, I thought that that
was replacing the Durin's bridge sequence,
but Jackson had actually made the true bridge
sequence seem even HIGHER and even
more dangerous! Enter...the balrog. A fell
spirit of fire and darkness, this character had a
visiage that would make Darth Maul cringe.
Jackson handled the "wings/no wings" debate
brilliantly, having the balrog depicted with
wings of shadow and smoke but (I guess) no
substance. Thusly, the balrog would not be
able to fly out of the pit when it falls. Armed
with a!
fire sword and a whip of flame, this character,
as Gandalf exclaimed, was truly a "foe beyond
all of you". An audible gasp swept the theatre
when, while falling, the balrog managed to
wrap his whip around Gandalf's feet and drag
him into the Abyss. In the words of my friend:
"Gandalf can't die!!!!" Utterly spellbinding.

One more positive thing about the movie as a
whole: Jackson used humor in the story to
much greater effect than Tolkien had written it.
For instance, in Moria's Tomb of Balin
sequence (where Pippin's well sequence was
relocated), Pippin does not drop a mere stone
down the well. A skeleton is sitting on edge of
the well, and Pippin knocks its head off. The
head falls into the well. Us readers of the
book think that is going to be it. That is, if we
were unenlightened. Because its head has
been decapitated, the corpse is thrown off
balance, and after a moment it follows the
head down the well. Ah, but the scene is not
over. The leg of the corpse happens to be
entangled on a iron chain, attached to the
bucket of the well. Both chain and bucket go
down the well. What follows is not a mere
plunk, as recorded in the books, but an
echoing cacaphony of noise as head, corpse,
armor, chain, and bucket crash, tumble, and
cascade toward an unseen bottom. The
tumult that resou!
nds through the walls of Moria is a more
satisfying explanation that signals to the orcs
that an intruder is about, rather than a mere
plunk of rock, which can occur all the time in
crumbling Moria. All the while Pippin is
glancing around with a cringing, terrified look
on his face. I almost expected him to blurt out,
"I didn't do it!".

That is only one instance in the movie, but
there are many places (often brief) that break
up the tension a little and add a little comic
relief to an otherwise serious and somber
story.


CONS:

The most annoying thing about Peter
Jackson's movie was the very thing I knew
would drive me nuts -- the deleted scenes.
Anyone closely familiar with the storyline
would agree with me when I say that I really
wanted ALL of Tolkien's scenes incorperated
into the movie, something that the objective
side of me knows would be a fiscal
impossibility. The movie would easily run four
(if not five) hours. This still does not prevent
me from being disappointed to find out the
rumors regarding Tom Bombadil, the
Sackville-Bagginses, The Barrow Downs, The
Mirrormere, and the extended version of
Weathertop were all true. However, one thing
does allow me to "deal" with this better. In
reading an interview with Peter Jackson
regarding his movie, he stated that he views
the deleted scenes as something that actually
DID happen in his movie, it's just there was no
cameraman there to film it. When viewed in
this light, one can see that one can use their
mind's eye to reincorperate most o!
f the deleted scenes and the movie as a
whole would not fall apart. The one exception
to this is the Barrow Downs scene. Since the
hobbits never were shown going through the
downs, a different explanation had to be
concocted for the hobbits receiving their
Numenorean swords. In Jackson's movie,
Strider happens to have four Numenorean
swords on him that he gives the hobbits. I
suppose Strider was expecting to meet the
hobbits at the Prancing Pony, even though
they weren't looking for him. A bit weak for an
explanation, but for lack of a better one, I
suppose it will have to do.

Another thing almost entirely missing from
Jackson's LOTR is the myriad of songs that
Tolkien wrote into his story. Gone are the Man
in the Moon, The song of Luthien Tenuviel,
The Flammifer of Westernesse, the Lament
for Gandalf, etc. The one remaining vestige of
a song that I noticed was Bilbo, when he was
walking down the road away from Bag End for
the last time, started mumbling "The Road
goes Ever Ever On", but the tune was largely
unintelligible. In regards to "The Man in the
Moon", it falls to Pippin, getting drunk at the
Prancing Pony, to reveal to the crowd that
Frodo was a Baggins, and in the clamor that
follows Frodo gets pushed, the Ring goes
flying, and Frodo falls backward. Frodo
manages to catch the ring before it falls to the
ground, however, and the ring slips onto his
finger. Strider notices, yada, yada, and the
scene continues with the book dialogue. Hrm.
I think I liked the book version better, though
the new scene is darker and adds to the
sinister!
ness of the ring mentioned before, especially
with the statement about the ring wanting to
be found.

Another think that kinda rubbed me the wrong
way is something that would only be picked up
by people who have read through the books --
every so often, inserted into the dialogue, were
the chapter titles from the book. Maybe it was
just me, but I felt that the dialogue sounded
forced, and doing that made the dialogue
stand out like a sore thumb. For instance:
Gandalf, at the beginning, seeing the tents in
Bilbo's front yard, exclaims, "A long-expected
party!". Or, when the hobbits are leaving the
Shire and are walking through Farmer
Maggot's cornfield, they scramble to hide from
the farmer, jump into a gully, espy fungus
growing near a tree root, and Pippin yells out
"A shortcut to Mushrooms!". Or, the hobbits
making mention once in Bree that they are to
meet Gandalf "At the sign of the Prancing
Pony". Or, when in Moria, Gandalf prods the
fellowship on to go "this way, to The Bridge of
Khazad-Dum!". Never mind that the city is
mentioned as Moria (multiple times) or th!
e Dwarrowdelf (once), and never as
Khazad-Dum up to that point. There was even
a mention of "The Breaking of the Fellowship"
just before it took place on screen. Bah.

One other thing that I found curious on the
negative side is that Strider actually MEETS
Frodo at the seat of Amon Hen right after
Frodo is almost revealed to the Enemy.
Strider pretty much gives Frodo his blessing to
continue on alone, even though he has no
reason (as of yet) to abandon Frodo to go on
the Quest solo. Frodo never puts on the ring
again, simply running down to the river
completely visible and taking off in the boat.
Sam (following the book version) intercepts
him, nearly drowns, is saved by Frodo and
goes with him across the river. When they
reach the other side, Legolas sees them and
prepares to cross over himself, but is stopped
by Strider who says that "The fate of the Ring
is no longer in our hands". Granted, by this
time, Boromir has been killed and Merry and
Pippin have been captured, so it makes
sense that they would need to go rescue the
hobbits themselves. I think that by making
Frodo visible during this last sequence,
Jackson has taken away so!
me of the confusion and mystery that occured
that day, and Strider had everything figured out
from the get-go. Part of what is neat about
what follows after is how the remaining
members of the fellowship deduce what has
happened from small clues left behind:
Sam's pack is missing; Hobbit footprints on
the bank; Boromir dead with many arrows.
Which, by the way, in the movie Boromir does
reveal that the hobbits have been captured
before he dies, unlike the books. Further
reducing the mystery.


ADDED SCENES:

PROLOGUE - Instead of having a lot of
exposition at the council of Elrond, Jackson
elected to tell the backstory first person,
starting with the Last Alliance of Men and
Elves, and ending with Bilbo finding the Ring.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Positive. I think
showing the story was much better than just
referencing a past event as a method for
driving home how the Ring wound up in the
small rural Shire. The only caveat I would give
regarding this is that Sauron in physical form
is not quite what I was picturing. He was
intimidating, and the battle scenes were
amazing, but I just thought they could have
beefed up his appearance even more than
they did. I mean, enhance him as much as
they enhanced the nature of the ring and make
him EVIL, not just evil. Fortunately, the rest of
the movie he is depicted as the Eye, which
was superb.

ARWEN/GLORFINDEL SWITCH - To beef up
Arwen's role in the movies, Jackson has
chosen to delete the character of Glorfindel
and replace him with Arwen. Therefore, it is
Arwen that intercepts the hobbits and Strider
heading from Bree, and it is on Arwen's horse
that Frodo is carried across the Ford of
Bruienen (sp?). A departure is that Arwen
herself travels with Frodo, and it is she that
summons the Ford to rise up against the
Ringwraiths. Frodo basically spends the time
delerious, uttering nothing but moans.
Jackson has also added a scene with Arwen
professing her love for Aragorn in Rivendell
(not entirely non-canon, since the story can be
found in Appendix A in the books). She
announces her decision to become mortal, in
order to choose Aragorn over spending an
eternity without him. I can almost hear the
collective "Aww..." from the female
demographic. OVERALL IMPRESSION:
Indifferent. Glorfindel was a minor character
anyways, so if they want to reduce the cast list!
ing and merge his lines into Arwen's, that's
fine by me. She didn't have much screen time
anyways. The hype regarding this was way
out of proportion with the way it affected the
movie.

THE WIZARD BATTLE - This was a scene
added to Gandalf's talk with Saruman in
Orthanc. Saruman basically pledges his
allegiance to Sauron, and Gandalf attempts to
walk out on him. Saruman then uses
telekenisis to close all the doors to the room
they are in, and the two wizards proceed to
have a telekinetic battle against each other.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: borderline negative.
I thought the wizard battle was a bit cheesy,
with Gandalf spinning around and flying
through the air and all. Though it does show
that he was not captured without a fight.

SARUMAN'S DESTRUCTION OF THE VALE
OF ISENGARD - This scene shows Gandalf's
view of Saruman destroying the trees and
gardens surrounding Isengard to make way
for Uruk-hai armies and his war machine.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Positive. I thought it
was rather intriguing how Saruman
transformed the ring of Isengard from a lush
garden of Gondor to a lesser mirror of the
residence of his true master, Sauron.

BIRTH OF THE URUK-HAI - This scene
shows Saruman overseeing the birth of his
recently-bred human/orc race, the Uruk-hai.
Unfortunately, Jackson depicted it as a fully
grown Uruk emerging from beneath a muddy
pool bursting though some sort of
placenta/cocoon thing. OVERALL
IMPRESSION: Negative. I thought that was
stupid. Tolkien has made it quite clear that
Orcs are mutated Elves, and that elves
procrate in the same manner as Men and
Dwarves. No further elaboration necessary.

-----------------------------------

Well, I think that is it for my review. I will say
this though -- I will probably attend again
during its theatrical run, and I WILL have it on
DVD once it is released.