[mark12_30]

Oh, well said, Saucie, well said. (I'll get back to you on that one.) Thanks for bringing up such things as costuming, sets & props.

I heartily agree with you that there is much to praise about these movies and little to disparage. While I did not have the same Lee/Howe foundation that you did, and the scenery was quite different in my mind, still, it was quite easy for me to feel very much at home in 95% of the scenes. Minas Tirith was totally magnificent (seeing that stunningly beautiful glimpse of it in FOTR surprised me so much that I gasped and burst into tears, startling my friends...) THe only place I didn't 'recognize' was Lorien. I wanted .... well, nevermind. What they came up with was also magnificent, and carried the movie through Lothlorien quite well.

I had problems with the characterization at first, especially of Strider; but I've come to terms with 90% of it, the remainder being poor cheated Frodo. However, especially after watching the Appendices and making-of features, and seeing how much even the eye-rolling was managed and guided by PJ, I don't blame the actors for any of it. So even if I disagree (and i do) with some of PJ's characterization-- given the overall amount of work that PJ did, my criticisms seem quite unfair. For the work PJ did, he did a magnificent job.

I do maintain that Virtue and character depth isn't PJ's strong point; bad guys and evil are his strong point. Perhaps with some more experience under his belt, he would have had a wiser approach to the deeper virtues of the characters; but then, with age comes weariness, and he wouldn't have the boundless energy he needed for this project. How to perfect it? Maybe putting a much older, wiser director in charge of the most complex characters, while leaving youthfully energetic PJ in charge of "everything else"? Not likely, is it?

So back to what we've got, which IMO definitely earned its eleven oscars. Most of the fans are either pleased, or fairly pleased. There are some die-hards like our well-beloved lindil, but they still have their books, intact and undamaged, on their shelves. Meanwhile, teeming hordes who would otherwise have never met Frodo or Gandalf or Aragorn, are now enlightened. I call that good...

Really, I think we have a magnificent set of movies, and I'm grateful for them. They are some of the best fanfiction ever generated; definitely enriching; enjoyable; great entertainment; but beyond that, food for deep thought. That's quite an accomplishment.