Number of viewings in cinema : 4
OK then, where do I start telling about the best movie since like, ever? Well I suppose I�ll just tell you how this madness started. I�ve been a huge dedicated fantasy fan, reading everything available. I think I read the Hobbit and LOTR for the first time when I was 12, and two years later I read them again. I thought they were good but then I discovered the more recent fantasyauthors such as David Eddings, Terry Goodkind and Marion Zimmer Bradley (just slightly advertising here!) but I was chuffed to bits when I heard they were turning the books into movies. Dee�s also fantasy-mad so we immediately agreed to go see it asap. We read everything we could get our hands on and collected articles, but that didn�t prepare us for the spectacle we were about to see�
First of all we ran into quite some problems before we could see it�Certain cinemas in Holland had decided not to show it because it was also shown in filmhouses, who are sponsored by government and thus cheaper. They didn�t want this competition and ruled out LOTR:FOTR. Unfortunately for us, also our home-town decided so, and we ended up reserving places in a city nearby.
Alright, alright, I�ll just turn to the movie..This three-hour epos does the book more than just justice. Who was better fit to recreate Tolkien�s world than Peter Jackson? All the sites are AMAZINGLY AMAZING! The Shire, Isengard, Lothlorien, Rivendel�It�s all so real and beautiful. I think it�s safe to say the first time you see this movie you are simply overwhelmed by everything thundering over your head as some sort of superspectaculair very long rollercoasterride. (Do I sound overly enthousiastic here?)
Moving on to the story, I read the books several times, again after I saw it for the first time. I think they made exactly the right cut, which is really admirable because it�s so extended and it�s hard to satisfy all the fans, but I think they did succeed. They�ve put slightly more speed in the story than in the book, but that�s more a plus than a minus. I am also happy with the adding of Arwen to the film because she proves to be very important later on, but she�s hardly in the book. I think Liv Tyler is a great actress and very beautiful too, so she�s the perfect Arwen. About the other actors then: can anyone imagine someone else for the roles? Elijah Wood makes the perfect Frodo, Ian McKellen is a wonderful shabby old wizard, fantastically in his role as Gandalf, and Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd are venomously funny as Merry and Pippin. Viggo Mortensen IS Aragorn, he has that leader-thing all about him, even when looking awfully shabby (no offense!) Sean Bean plays Boromir convincingly and so does John Rhys-Davies play the dwarf Gimli even though being 6�2� (taller than I am, dammit) My personal fave though is Orlando Bloom as the Elf Legolas. Amazing how such an hyperactive person can be the trustworthy, calm, balanced Elf. He also has this special �Legolas-look�, curling his upper lip, you all must have noticed! It�s really funny (and cute too)
If you then look at the visual effects, the costumes and the soundtrack, you can only say they score another ace. I honestly cannot say what in the film is real and what isn�t, an incredible achievement. The costumes are worn by the actors as if they have never done differently (I suspect them to walk around in them every now and then, really). The soundtrack is the best I ever heard. I never really liked soundtracks very much, but this one is so good you almost see the movie again and are moved to tears in certain sequences! I knew Enya far before the soundtrack, as I (well my family!) own her CD�s, such as �The Memory of Trees� (Wonderful!) �The Celts�, �A Day without Rain� and others. She is perfect for this soundtrack because her voice has some sort of mysterious, fantasy feel.

OK then, I�ve explained why I think this movie scores in every field, but that is not all! For me, this movie carries out everything modern fantasy stands for. The ultimate battle between Good and Bad, set in a beautiful yet strange world, with characters you yourself can relate too and loads of humor. It can be seen as an absolute revolution in movies, and comes in the league amongst movies such as Star Wars, Ben Hur, Spartacus and Titanic. Movies everyone knows, and will be known in fifty years time. It�s historical, an event of the 21st century. It is Lord of the Rings, in all the sense of the words.