I will, for as long as I live, never forget the feeling I had when I walked out of the theater after seeing FOTR. All three movies captivated me and sparked my love for films. Nothing I've seen since has come even close. These movies are unparalleled. To this end, I am terrified about seeing The Hobbit because my expectations are so great I don't know if they can ever be matched. I also wonder if the timing of FOTR didn't play a large role for me. It was 2001, I had just moved far away from home to Boston for school. My parents had divorced. I was in an extremely difficult major. It was a very new and uncertain stage in my life. These movies took me away and floored me. They are, in my opinion, the epitome of escapist cinematic perfection. Given the enormity of the task of filming the "unfilmable" movies, how many variables had to all coalesce successfully.
I grew up, got married, bought a house, have a kid...but when I hear just two seconds of Howard Shore's sountrack I get nerdchills in every inch of my body.
Thank you Peter Jackson.
Well said.
For me the big moment was the first minutes of FOTR, where you see the big battle between Mordor and the last alliance of men and elves. People rag on CGI, but I remember being in awe as I sat there in the cinema. I knew then that the whole series was going to be impressive, and it didn't disappoint.
OP-I know exactly how you feel. I could have wrote that myself almost (except i was younger when the films came out, 13 in 2001) I don't think I'll ever have that experience again.
Don’t worry. In that respect a great film is like a great love. The first will be special in a way that the others cannot be- but they’ll all take your breath away.
Just don’t expect it every time you go to the theatre. I mean, if it happened all the time then it wouldn’t be worth experiencing.
I have high hopes for The Hobbit; I had low hopes for the FOTR. It will be interesting to see how it turns out. The one thing I reassure myself with is that it can’t possibly be a bigger disappointment than The Phantom Menace. It could be equal - but it can’t be bigger.