[Tony from Finland]

As a part of my birthday present, my girl took me to see LOTR. You know, it wasn't bad. Not bad at all! Granted, it has been too many years since I last read the book, so I don't remember it too well. But it did seem like they had shuffled some events around a bit. Some actions of some characters seemed strange, unexplained, out of context, like the filmmakers assumed that the audience had read the book before seeing the movie. The beginning was a tad slow, but then in a project like that it was to be expected. The book gathered momentum even slower. Somehow, though, in the book it didn't matter the way it did in the movie. Not that I got bored, as such, during the beginning. It just could have gone a bit faster. But still, damn it was good... :)

(Funny thing: In Finland we had a bit of a scandal regarding this movie. The government agency that sets age limits to movies set the limit higher than in other Scandinavian countries. I'm thinking the limit was 15 years. (I'm guessing that'd make it 11 if the child was with a parent.) After public pressure the age limit was dropped to the same level as in the surrounding countries - 11 years if the child is alone, 8 if with a parent. I do think I saw a couple of scared kids leaving the theater... The orcs and such looked nasty enough for kids of that age, IMHO. There was plenty of fighting. Ghosts and monsters. And the death of one or two of the good guys. Personally I think the first age limit was correct, at least when the movie was viewed in a large, well-equipped theater. I for one was moved by the deaths of the good guys... (Then again, it is possible I might think about death in combat a bit differently than a small kid. :p ) And like I said, the orcs and such sure looked nasty.)

Anyway, I do highly recommend this movie. Plenty of action, some pretty nice fights (I liked the moves of the elf archer with his knife - elegant looking, compared to the head-bashing going on all around. Not that the other good guys were any worse looking, just clearly different fighting styles. Too bad a lot of the time you couldn't really see the action very clearly...), and something that a lot of movies seem to lack - a message more deeper than "come give us your money". (A movie - and a huge production at that - that talks about courage, love, sacrifice... Guess it's pretty cold in Hell. :p )

I guess the best testament to the quality of this movie is that, well, it lasts what, 2.5 hours? Anyway, after sitting in the theater for about three hours, I was disappointed that the movie ended so soon... So definitely a "thumbs up" for this one!

Now. What's taking the sequels so long!?! I want to see them already! :D

[She Who Must Be Obeyed]

I would have to agree about the age limit thing. I didn't take my nine year old to see it although she wanted to go. The eleven year old had a bad dream last night about the main Orc (the one that riddled the good guy with arrows.) She snapped herself out of it by reminding herself that it was just makeup and that her aunt is a theatre make-up expert. So alls well. However, I don't think younger children should go see it. The imagination factor and all.