**RotK - General impressions and opinions**

[Linaeve]

I liked ROTK, but I wasn't overly impressed by it. Maybe that was because half way through the movie, I got a horrible headache thanks to the fact that the volume in the theater must have been set at its highest possible volume . . . if that makes any sense. Anyway, I thought it was a bit too . . . I dunno, forced, maybe is the word for it. I can't remember which ones now (I saw it last week), but there are a couple scenes in the movie that you just know you're supposed to cry in. I hated that- it felt much too Hollywood for me. <P>I really didn't like the whole 'Gollum frames Sam' business . . . I liked it better in the books where Gollum is shown to have some goodness still remaining in him, and I didn't like the whole departure scene at the beginning of the movie with Pippin and Merry. That's one of the scenes that I thought was much too contrived. I also wasn't impressed with the Paths of the Dead- it wasn't nearly as frightening as it is in the book. <P>However, I <I>was</I> impressed with the elephants (or oliphaunts, if you're Samwise), and I liked Gimli, even though he seemed a little too comic and contrived too. <P>My favorite scenes, however, were towards the end. I liked the part where the Nazgul says that he can't be killed by any man, and Eowyn rips off her helmet and cries, "But I am no man!". The other scene I liked was at the end, when everyone bowed down to the four hobbits . . . I leaned over to my friend and whispered, "Go short people!" in his ear. I was thrilled because, at 17, I'm only 5 ft tall! <P>All said and done, I still think the first one is the best for its spectacular acting, costumes, and set. Everything went downhill from there <P>(And sorry if I repeated what others have said before me . . . I was lazy and didn't bother reading all four pages before I posted!!! )