Last Thursday, along with 30 other people, my family and I went to our local theater in complete elf/dwarf/hobbit/wizard costumes. First we went to a friend's house and had the 'unexpected' hobbit party and then we had a game of riddles right before heading over to the theater at 10:30. The movie didn't start till 12:00 AM but we heard that they were already seating people so we decided it would be best if we went over early so that we could find seats for the 30+people we were bringing. After an hour and a half wait the movie started. It was awesome! They included a bunch of background storyline from the appendixes which I thought added a lot to the movie and they also stuck pretty close to the book. The filming was incredible and I thought the actors were good too, but I did have one complaint: the special effects went a bit over the top. I like special effects and everything, but there were more than a few scenes where I thought Peter Jackson went overboard with the unbelievable falls, jumps etc. which I don't believe wasn't Tolkien's intention. I think he was trying to make his stories believable, so that you felt like it might even happen to you. I think the movie did stray quite a bit from the book in that sense, but overall it was very good. Rank=4th favorite movie, the reason being that the Fellowship of the Ring takes 1st, the Two Towers takes 2nd, and the Return of the King, 3rd. =D
Unfortunately, I had to un-friend a bunch of my former friends because they still seem to like the Avengers better...just kidding. I feel sorry for their inability to grasp the deeper meanings of Tolkien's works though. I know that the Avengers beats LotR in special effects but that's not the point. The point of LotR is the meaning behind it and the principles of the characters. I'm sorry, but the only Avenger who had a bit of real character was Captain America. Put the Fellowship against the Avengers for virtue and character and you can't help but admit that the Fellowship rocks that arena.
