I was going to wait till this weekend to see the movie with friends, but I’m not sure that anybody can make it. So yesterday when I saw my neighbor Monty and he asked if I wanted an extra ticket to the 2:40PM show with him and his workgroup, I jumped.
My impressions:
The “fantasy”/magic scenes in the beginning are a bit too ethereal, they don’t fit the tenor of the rest of the movie.
The ghost army scenes sort of fit the same bill.
The movie is absolutely fantastic. There were several points in the multiple endings that had me tearing up. The coronation of the King was a high point. Seeing Sam’s new life was another one.
The action scenes – the megabattles – were mindblowingly realistic. Absolutely fantastic.
Thematically, the issues of heroism, duty, faith, honor, trust, courage, the power of evil and brotherhood are all treated majestically.
I was really looking forward to seeing how the movies would handle the issue of the other rings, but they didn’t tackle that subject at all. I suppose that’s a wise decision – the 3rd movie was still almost 4 hours long. Hard to find a popcorn/potty break anywhere in the middle, too.
I haven’t read the books since I was a kid. I considered rereading them before the first movie showed, but I decided not to do that, and just remember the overall plotlines so I wouldn’t notice all the discrepencies. i’m very glad I did that – this movie is about the overall story anyway, not the details. Now that I’ve seen the movie finish, I can go back and read the books again – for the first time since I was about 14. Maybe I should wait till I turn 35 this March. I’ve got enough reading material on the “in” pile to keep me busy till at least then 🙂
One thing I was thinking though – as I prepare a sermon discussion around Luke 1:26-38, that the overwhelming transition from Aragorn the dark mysterious, hooded traveller into King is only a pale comparison to the overwhelming transition of screaming little baby boy in a cattle stall progressively revealing himself as Creator of the Universe.
pat loughery 
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