Well, I drove 3.5 hours each way to see it (to Washington DC from Johnstown, PA) and it was worth every mile and rain drop I had to weather on the way back. The movie, digitally projected, looked AMAZING.
It was like watching it on a big screen TV in High Definition it was that good. This is clearly the future of movie watching. I got there early thinking the lines would be bad and seeing as they warned us about FIRST COME seating, I wasn’t taking any chances.
I was disappointed the turnout was so low. About 100 people total. They checked us in and only asked for the printout of the email, no ID was required. We got free popcorn and soda and after the movie, they had posters out at the exit for everyone, although some took more than one (shame on them).
I guess this isn’t hard to believe, but the movie is much better now with the added footage, if only to explain a lot of what happens in future scenes or in TTT, and to really *flesh* out the story. Someone who is not versed in the books, will really get it now.
I especially like the new beginning with Bilbo and his voice over. Great history on Hobbits. However, the film benefits the most from the added Lorien scenes, beginning with the Fellowship entering the woods til they depart with the gift giving. This sequence has the most footage added, I’d say 7-10 min it seemed like.
The second big thing I like about it is, it gives you a much better understanding why Aragorn is the way he is. When I saw the original, the thing that upset me the most was the portrail of Aragorn and the fact that the movie didn’t explain it well enough (seeing as it deviated from the book).
Well, its in there now. The last thing I’ll mention is the fleshing out of Boromir’s character and his motives, which was well done and much needed.
Overall, the new scenes blended perfectly, There may be one or two *rough* transitions. I also noticed that they changed some camera angles on existing scenes. The new music was great and even some of the original music was changed if the scene was extended or something was added after it. Man, they really worked on getting it right.
So, there you go. Great flick. I’m grateful to see it again on the big screen. Can’t wait til next Tuesday. Bravo PJ and company.
DPM.
P.S. I think the font on the credits was also made bigger. Thank god. I think we may actually be able to read them now, and the fan club roll (at least I could in the theater). They did not roll the fan club names at this showing though.
