LOTR

I have recently re-watched the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and have subsequently had a renewed appreciation for it. Gosh it's good, J.R.R. Tolkein and Peter Jackson are just amazing. I love when you re-watch something and 'get' all the links, jokes and plot details that you missed in previous viewings.

LOTR has so many good elements to it:

Friendship - Sam and Frodo. Sam's unwavering loyalty is incredibly admirable. And while you'd be hard pressed to find a movie that can make me cry, the scene where Sam carries Frodo the last little way to Mount Doom brought tears to my eyes, I do admit. I also love the friendship that grows between Gimli and Legolas, who don't like each other at first but by the end are constantly taking the mickey out of each other.

Love - Arwen and Aragorn. While I don't particularly like Arwen, Aragorn is beyond amazing, so to see him finally get married to his lady is nice. I do admire Arwen's sacrifice of eternal life for a mortal life with Aragorn though. Ahhh love. It's also realistic in depicting how love is not always reciprocated, as in the case of Eowyn.

Humour - Without it's snippets of humour I probably wouldn't really like the trilogy very much. Merry and Pippin in particular always make me giggle. They are the coolest little hobbits. And of course the banter between Gimli and Legolas: "do you want me to describe what's happening or would you like me to get you a box" (Legolas to Gimli during the Battle of the Hornburg).

Environmental messages - I only noticed this on this watching, but Tolkein is clearly preaching a 'save the trees' type message in The Two Towers through the treefolk who protest the felling of their kind by the orcs. It's Tolkein's way of saying save the forests yo!

Lovable characters - Sam, Merry, Pippin (the most lovable in my opinion).

A character you love/hate - Gollum. He's evil, yes, but you can't help but feel sorry for him and his situation. Poor wee guy can't help being consumed by his desire for the ring, and his internal conflict where we see glimpses of the sweet Smeegle makes it all the more tragic.

Eye Candy - Aragorn of course, who is so rugged and masculine. Then, on the other end of the scale is the pretty-boy Legolas who is also easy on the eye.

So yeah, LOTR is pretty freakin' cool.
xx