not a movie review

[redbird]

I just saw Lord of the Rings.

It's okay Tolkien.

But it's an excellent movie. Gripping, visually impressive--scenery even more than special effects--and I cried at the end. The subtitled bits worked, and there's even a good use of a cabbage.

I'm not going to tell Jo to see it: there were a couple of points where I objected to the casting, on purely visual grounds--the first glimpse of Bilbo, and Elrond (mostly because I can't believe a wise and ancient lord would wear such a silly hairstyle). But Frodo is fine, and Gimli just right, braids and all.

Comments

But...

[trinker.livejournal.com]

I *love* Elrond's hairstyle. It's got me tempted to grow my hair out long enough to copy it!

[firecat]

What didn't you like about Bilbo?

Opinion seems sharply divided on Elrond. I like him and his hairstyle.

[redbird]

When he first came on screen, my reaction was "that's not Bilbo!" He just looked wrong. Less so as the movie went on, though.

Same thing about Elrond's hair--it conflicted with (subconscious) expectations.

[tavella.livejournal.com]

Wow, and I thought Bilbo was one of the two parts that was so utterly perfect that I couldn't imagine anyone being better.

[purpletigron.livejournal.com]

Bilbo was perfect for anyone who loves the BBC Radio audio adaptation of the Lord of the Rings.

Saruman was also perfect, Gandalf great.

I remain very dubious about Frodo, Sam and Aragorn.

[firecat]

I guess I didn't have a "THAT'S NOT..." reaction about any character, but I was dubious about Boromir, and a bit dubious about Saruman. Aragorn wasn't right either, I thought at first, but I've started to change my mind.

The characters that made me go YES were Sam and Legolas.

The rest were within the acceptable range.