[dragoneyes]

Before I say anything, I must express my utmost amazement at Shelob. The silence before she struck was truely that: silence. Not one person in our tiny little cinema ate, drank or even moved, everyone's breath was held. Then she stabbed him and there was a collective "ooh!" and I've never heard such a reaction from a cinema audience around here. But then we had Elijah's reaction face (frothing or no frothing?) which I felt was a fraction too long. One more thing: was I meant to feel sorry for Shelob when Sam stabbed her? She made the sweetest little whining noises that just made me lose all emnity for her, she is only trying to eat.<P>Now, what to start with? I was pleased with all of the actors and their acting, even if Elijah had the camera on him for that little bit too long a few times. I didn't cry, but that was to be expected as I never do.<P>Be warned that I shall probably concentrate on the bad things as those are the things that leap out at me most.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> the movie left me a bit cold, as if it happened in a parallel universe to the book <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>That was very much the same for me, I couldn't quite explain it to my friend but it was something like that.<P>Billy's face started to annoy me, but I've had that against him ever since I read the book and saw the movie again, he just doesn't have the face of a Pippin. I'm weird like that and just tried to ignore it while I was watching.<P>I liked Pippin pledging to Denethor (though Merry could have done with one) because it showed a shadow of a different Denethor, smiling as Pippin muddled his way through the lines. Of course the feel soon changed and he just became downright evil but in that short moment he was a real human being.<P>I was sitting in my seat hoping against hope that they wouldn't fire the heads over the walls, it was the one thing that I wouldn't have minded too much being omitted from the book because I can't stand dead bodies, I was cringing away from Frodo when he was "dead". But as soon as that orc mentioned the "present" and then went on to tell the others to load the catapaults I knew it was coming. It's not a complaint, I'm glad they put it in, but it was really horrid.<P>Like many others here, I could have done without the roving eye of Sauron across the plains of Mordor, though it was pretty cool when Frodo was caught in the light (why he wasn't seen is beyond me).<P>The Arwen and the ring thing pushed me to ask my friend next to me if she knew anything more about it, we were both confused, and it seemed pointless as it wasn't mentioned again, which is a good thing.<P>Sammath Naur was dangerously close to being funny with Gollum on an invisible Frodo's back, but it managed to pull it off. Frodo falling off the edge, however, and having to be pulled up again was getting a little cliche (and how do you get a good grip on a blood drenched hand?). Frodo's pure evil smirk at Sam when he claimed the ring was pure genius, loved it.<P>Unfortunately, there are the parts that are painfully and obviously missing, they have all been mentioned here so I feel I need not say anything more about them.<P>Last thing, there are probably many more but I have the worst memory, there was too much light. I was happy for them to have light on Pellenor fields because I could see how that would be ridiculous in darkness, but Shelobs lair could have easily been darker, when he got out Galadriel's phial, I really didn't see the point as, truth be told, it didn't make too much difference.<P>Well, that's me done. No wait, the "green virus" bugged me too, how ironic that at the end they decided to skip on the green and have the yellow door of #3 <P>That's me done.<p>[ 4:56 PM December 29, 2003: Message edited by: dragoneyes ]