Well written and fair, and I agree Jackson's team did an excellent job moving the pace along and rather than painstaking explanations of scenery we get quick shots of scenery.

(view spoiler)[I always thought it was unfair that Frodo eventually got the credit for destroying the One Ring, when in fact he had decided at the last second to keep it, and it was actually thanks to Gollum that the Ring got thrown into the flames. Also, the whole story could have been much abbreviated if one of those giant eagles had flown Frodo in for the Ring-drop and then flown him out again! :) (hide spoiler)]

You raise good points and I think I shall have to write about some of these in my next review of this book...

Jonathan wrote: "You raise good points and I think I shall have to write about some of these in my next review of this book..."

Thanks for the compliment! The second point is more of a joke and may not hold water. But I've often thought about the first point and wished that Gollum could have turned out differently.

Jonathan wrote: "...I think I shall have to write about some of these in my next review of this book..."

Your next review? How many reviews of LOTR have you written?

Thanks, Richard, Micheline & Jonathan. I agree about Frodo. A friend who hadn't read the book was utterly shocked by what happened when they finally got to Mordor. :)

Oh, I think it was still Frodo who decided to undertake the journey, and who persevered through terrible circumstances, whose will continued to seek the end of the ring even when his body could only crawl up the slope of the mountain. The fact that the ring mastered him at the last minute just shows the limits of his strength. Most likely none of the great could have succeeded in defying the ring's power for as long as Frodo did.

Sam was wonderful. Sam was fantastic. But he didn't bear the agony of the ring for the whole journey the way Frodo did. So I had to post to honor Frodo's heroism.

I didn't mean to totally bash Frodo. He did take on the task and did the best he could with it, poor thing.
But I think Elijah Wood conveyed Frodo's struggle much better than the book did.

I agree with you about Frodo, Sam, and Gollum. The only reason I can think of why Tolkien prolonged their journey together (in this case, three is definitely not company!) is so that he could show how irredeemable Smeagol was.

Good point, Brandi. You may be right. Subtle it was not.

You are a brave, brave woman, Callista. I like that.

Thanks, Brad! Am I brave for daring to risk Tolkienite wrath? :)

In my experience ... yes you are.

Well, again--thank you very much!

Your review=almost exactly my thoughts on the masterpiece of LotR!

Thanks, Rowenna!

Your very welcome,Callista!