Getcher first-day reviews heah!

[lagilman]

And lo, we did get tickets for the first day. And lo, we did purge our bladders and carb-load beforehand. And lo, we did sit...

And the verdict is...


As an adaption? It was (probably unavoidably) flawed.

As a movie in its own right? Duuuuude.

Not perfect, no, and dark and grim (as was the book) and slow in places in ways people with less patience waiting for the payoff might find annoying, but still. Wow.

(side note: other people have found fault with the music. All I can say is that I usually don't notice the soundtrack and here I did. I'd rather not be aware of it, yeah. But when I did notice it was to note that it was working.)

And I love the fact that they take it all the way to the end of the book. People kept trying to applaud at what they thought was the ending, to the point of laughter. But they were appluading, and rightfully so.

So, summation -- not perfect but still fabulous. And when taken three-as-one? Magic. Sheer, bladder-torturing magic. *grin*

(And yes, damn it, I did stage-whisper "King!" at the coronation scene. And my friend counterposted with "He washed his hair!)

Damn right I'm going again. And lord, oh lord I already cannot wait for the exteeeeeended version!

Comments

[lagilman]

Ah, but if he had left out any of the endings, TruFen would have been up in arms.

Besides, I like the bit with Sam coming home. Rounded the telling out nicely. Could have done without the shot of the ship into sunset, myself, because that felt like overkill.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I have a feeling fans will be arguing about which ending was the "right" one for the rest of time... Actually, I didn't mind all the scattershot concluding scenes, but I really wish he hadn't put those 3-second blackouts between them. That's what really made it feel less like a conclusion and more like "The End." "The End." "Fooled you! The End." "Another End." "Son of the End Strikes Back." "The End. Really. I mean it." "The Realio Trulio End of Ends (until the extended DVD, anyway)."

I will also say that although the Cleansing of the Shire was one of my favorite parts from the book, I also rather like the idea that the Shire didn't need cleansing.