Having been subjected to zillions of studio hype campaigns that accompany
the release of expensive movies, I was *very* skeptical about the biggest
hype of them all - the upcoming three-part "Fellowship of the Ring."

But after seeing a 30-minute preview of Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the
Rings" today, the same extended trailer presented at Cannes earlier this
year, I am now looking forward to the December premiere...  and trying to
get some money together to invest in AOL Time Warner.  They'll clean up on
this one.

When I saw two of my favorite actors at the beginning - Ian McKellen
(Gandalph) and Ian Holm (Bilbo Baggins) - I figured something may just go
right here.  The next impressive item was the New Zealand scenery (Middle
Earth), surely one of the most spectacular in the world.  Then the special
effects, which are more eye-popping than anything to date, even if with
some simple flaws (which may well be corrected by release time).  The
vastness of some settings is breathtaking.

Another plus:  instead of the stupidly overwhelming music of today's
Hollywood blockbusters, "Lord" is scored - by Howard Shore ("Dogma,"
"Silence of the Lambs," "M.  Butterfly," *50* others - loud enough (can't
get away from that, unfortunately), but stylishly and not at the film's
detriment.

Janos Gereben/SF
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