Excellent post, Rhudladion. This was along the lines of what I was wanting. While I can't take the time to posit on every one of your points (at work, you know) I'll try and tackle a couple.<P>Galadriel - agreed. Not much to say there. I felt the mirror scene may have very well been the worst in the entire film. However, it is a short sequence in the entirety of the movie, so I was willing to forgive PJ for this one.<P>Legolas - agreed. Excellent job.<P>Boromir - agreed. Good job here as well.<P>Gandalf - well, yes, and no. He does seem somewhat of a doofus at times, and I wasn't particularly fond of his grand entree either, however, in general I felt that the Gandalf on screen was very similar to the Gandalf that I have known for quite some time. He is amiable with the hobbits without being just a pal, and yet he is quite obviously someone to be revered for his knowledge and power. Cut a couple of lines (and head knockings, of course) here and there, and he's just about perfect.<P>Aragorn - here, I'll agree with your assessment that the Bree scene is cut short, however, his subsequent actions (saving them from the Ringwraiths attacking them in their beds) prove his intent. Additionally, he shows his "goodness" by not killing the hobbits from the get-go, i.e. when they first come burgeoning into the room armed with common household objects. I seem to recall that Sam questions why they are following him when they enter the wilderness, although I could be wrong. All in all, I thought he was done quite well, especially towards the end in the scenes with Frodo and Boromir.<P>Merry & Pippin - underdeveloped, generally, however, they were probably the most "hobbit-like" IMHO. But then again, Merry & Pippin are generally undeveloped in the book until Two Towers. Therefore, I deemed this to be acceptable.<P>Gimli - probably the most problematic character of all. I thought that if there was one huge flaw in the film, Gimli was it. He was probably the most undeveloped character of all, and played the part of the big idiot strongman. Examples: attacking the ring, the gung-ho desire to go to Moria, the warning speech as they enter the realm of Lothlorien.<P>Other general notes: I am certainly not claiming that the film is a masterpiece of genius. I do think that given the constraints of time and mass audience appeal that Jackson has done a good job. I was entertained. I've seen the film twice now, and I enjoyed it much more the second time around simply because I was able to take the film in without constant mental comparisons to what the book was. I also would have made some changes: no Saruman vs. Gandalf in the high flying Swing-A-Staff game; more shots of Gollum surreptitiously following the crew; no Saruman display of power on Mt. Caradhras, etc. Be that as it may, there were also several things that were just simply magical to see portrayed: Rivendell, Khazad-dum, the balrog.<P>Enjoy!<P>P.S. Tirinor, just saw your post. Give me some time to read it.
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