Review Detail
9.3 16 10
(Updated: September 17, 2012)
Enjoyment
10.0
Review by buddythegoon — February 8, 2010 @ 8:04 am
OK so I didn’t find the changes that “massive” in relation to the first version, however, that does not distract from the awesomeness of this work.
Plot:
Aragorn is a much stronger character, even though he’s now clearly not as badass as Gandalf. Extracting the uncertainty in relation to Liv-Arwen and his strange soap-operatic argument with Legolas prior to the battle makes him more who he is supposed to be.
Theoden is also much stronger. It looks more as if Gandalf has truly renewed Theoden’s spirit, even though the alleviation of Sarumen’s influence does look a little awkward (not docking points for that though).
The battle never needed the elves. It is shorter, possibly significantly shorter, but the book wasn’t really a battle book – only took up a few pages.
Legolas and Gimli get to keep some of their banter without taking over the movie. I believe that the literary Legolas could likely do a lot of the cool things PJ makes him do, but the story really isn’t about Legolas. Kerr leaves Legolas a great archer and fighter, but he never steals the show. Similarly with Gimli, he’s certainly more jovial than other characters, but his humor is not supposed to take over the story. I realize some would argue that it helps to have some humorous quips to please the audience in modern movies, otherwise Michael Bay would still be at MTV, but Kerr expertly trims the most absurd moments and leaves us, again, with a much stronger character.
Quality:
Video – can’t complain
Audio:
Have heard of complaints that audio is not 5.1. I have a 5.1 system, but Kerr’s 2.0 sounds fine, not great, but fine. I’m sure some audiophiles will dock points for it, but I’m too impressed with the work overall – maybe .2 points or something, making it an overall 9.8.
OK so I didn’t find the changes that “massive” in relation to the first version, however, that does not distract from the awesomeness of this work.
Plot:
Aragorn is a much stronger character, even though he’s now clearly not as badass as Gandalf. Extracting the uncertainty in relation to Liv-Arwen and his strange soap-operatic argument with Legolas prior to the battle makes him more who he is supposed to be.
Theoden is also much stronger. It looks more as if Gandalf has truly renewed Theoden’s spirit, even though the alleviation of Sarumen’s influence does look a little awkward (not docking points for that though).
The battle never needed the elves. It is shorter, possibly significantly shorter, but the book wasn’t really a battle book – only took up a few pages.
Legolas and Gimli get to keep some of their banter without taking over the movie. I believe that the literary Legolas could likely do a lot of the cool things PJ makes him do, but the story really isn’t about Legolas. Kerr leaves Legolas a great archer and fighter, but he never steals the show. Similarly with Gimli, he’s certainly more jovial than other characters, but his humor is not supposed to take over the story. I realize some would argue that it helps to have some humorous quips to please the audience in modern movies, otherwise Michael Bay would still be at MTV, but Kerr expertly trims the most absurd moments and leaves us, again, with a much stronger character.
Quality:
Video – can’t complain
Audio:
Have heard of complaints that audio is not 5.1. I have a 5.1 system, but Kerr’s 2.0 sounds fine, not great, but fine. I’m sure some audiophiles will dock points for it, but I’m too impressed with the work overall – maybe .2 points or something, making it an overall 9.8.
B