> * Legolas + bow & arrows = one baaad mutha. Watching him whip out arrow after arrow and shoot down charging orcs at practically point-blank range was possibly the most thrilling part of any battle scene.

No kidding. The second time I went to see the movie (yesterday afternoon) I was with a friend who said that he hated Legolas and Boromir in the book--but he agrees now that Legolas rocks. I spent a good half hour last night talking to my brother about how cool elves are. We can't wait to see more combat in the next movie.

> * The costuming. I can't think of a single character that didn't "look right". I especially liked the look of Boromir's outfit during the council of Elrond; the fabrics looked luxurious and conveyed his high-born heritage without being the least bit gaudy.

On my second viewing, I was looking more at details that I had ignored the first time, and I loved the outfits the Hobbits wear. They just seem so perfect.

> * The casting. Like Sam said, Ian McKellen played Gandalf as perfectly as one could wish, with charisma, affability and wry humor. Ian Holm's Bilbo was the best of the hobbit characters, and Viggo Mortensen, Sean Bean and John Rhys-Davies were all excellent in their respective roles.

Ian McKellan continues to blow me away in various roles. Some of the facial expressions he puts on during The Fellowship say so much without a word--a particular favorite of mine is when he closes his eyes after Frodo offers to take the ring at the council of Elrond--so many emotions were conveyed in that brief moment. I loved it. I can't believe you didn't mention Sean Astin--his portrayal of Samwise Gamgee stands out in my mind, at least, as one of the best performances of the film. Of course, I can't quite put my finger on why... I just loved his portrayal of the character.

> * The visualization of the wraith-world that becomes visible to Frodo when he puts on the ring. A very good special effect.

Yep. There's a lot I would like to say about this, but I won't, because I don't think I can articulate my thoughts well enough.

> Things That Were Good:
>
> * Sauron in combat. I never thought of Sauron as the kind of evil overlord to come out and join the battle personally; he seems like the sort to send out minions to carry out his dark plots. But if Peter Jackson wanted to show Sauron doing something physically impressive, this was definitely the way to do it. My jaw hung open as he swatted away groups of four and five warriors with each swing of his mace. I would have soiled my pants if I'd been out there in the battle.

Yep. This is another part of the movie that I could gush over for hours. I love the sounds used in the epic battles, too--the low sound that accompanies a swing of Sauron's mace, and each strike in Gandalf and Saruman's battle. The one simple sound effect conveyed such a sense of power, and in my opinion, it turned the "telekinetic battle" between Gandalf and Saruman from something hopelessly cheesy into something acceptably cool.

> Things That Were Altered From The Book:
>
> Having the ring fall directly onto Frodo's finger was a nice touch, though, and it heightened the audience's sense of the ring as a sentient, malevolent thing.

Yeah, this and other indications of the evil of the ring were wonderfully done, I thought.

> * The fight in Balin's Tomb. That cave troll must have gotten more screen time than even Saruman or the Nazgul, and you'd think that that would irk me, but in fact I thought it was a great addition to the book. As well as I can remember, in the book all you ever see of the cave troll is its foot, which the hobbits stab, causing it to retreat; the rest of the fight is with the orcs. In the movie, the cave troll is Yo' Daddy. The whole fight with that monster was exhilarating.

As a long time D&D gamer, I am considering making LOTR required viewing for everyone playing in my campaign (not that it will be a problem--I think at this point, only one or two of the group will not have seen it yet, and they won't be hard to convince) simply for this fight scene. Battles with the Orcs and Uruk-Hai were good as well, but the fight with the Cave Troll is a perfect example of how fast and dangerous combat should be in a role-playing game, and if people had that sort of idea in their heads during combats, things would be much better. If only my descriptive skills were up to that task...

> * The Mirror of Galadriel. Sam was absent, which was fine with me. Evil Mecha-Galadriel™ was actually okay with me too, but here as in other places where dialogue was taken directly from the book, I thought that an audience unfamiliar with the text would have a tough time following what Cate Blanchett was saying. The words weren't distinct enough, and it wasn't obvious that she was talking about what *would* inevitably happen if she took the One Ring with good intentions, as opposed to some sort of havoc she intended to wreak right then and there.

Not having read the books in about fifteen years or so, I did run into the problem you describe with understanding the monologue here. I became more pleased with the appearance of Evil Mecha-Galadriel™ after a second viewing of the movie and a discussion with a friend who has read the books more recently. In particular, I liked how she was wearing a breastplate in her transformation, and I loved the parallels between her appearance and the appearance of the Ring Wraiths as viewed from the wraith-world, which of course made a lot of sense once I thought about it more.

> That's enough fodder for now, I guess, though the above lists aren't comprehensive.

Not having read the books recently, I had to cut out a lot of comments because I really can't reply to them; however, watching the movie has given me a strong desire to re-read the books, especially as memories of my last read trickle back.

> Iss

Don Monkey