Howard Shore was very nice, very personable and the discussion lasted, to my surprise, nearly two hours. He spoke about a lot of his work, not just Lord of the Rings. He answered questions from the audience, and from a LA Times reporter, who, IMO we could have done without.

When that was over, we all rushed over to get into the line we knew would be forming outside the theater for the film.

To our surprise, there wasn't much of one. There were two lines, one for ticketholders, and one for people hoping to get last minute tickets.

As we were about to be let in to the theater, everyone in the other line, was permitted to buy tickets - apparently there were a lot of no-shows! It was their lucky night!

We all packed loudly and excitedly into the theater abotu 30 minutes before showtime. We all took our bathroom breaks then so as not to have to go during the film (as if one of us would have dared leave in the middle of this film anyway!)

There were no previews, there were no annoying advertisements. The sound boomed and the New Line logo appeared to the roar of the crowd.

We sat riveted to our seats throughout the film. Cheering when each character came onto the screen, laughing at each joke (usually at the expense of the poor Dwarf) and staring in utter amazement at the beautiful and seamless CGI creature that was Gollum.

I won't spoil the film, much, but by the time the battle for Helms Deep begun, the audience was on the edge of their seats, mouths gaping open at the wonder displayed before their eyes. The CGI was magnificant and seamlessly integrated into the live action. The tension was broken with perfect comedic moments (see Dwarf mention above). The Storming of Isengard was well done but was overshadowed by the tension and excitement surrounding Helms Deep.

By the time the credits began to roll, we stared at each other in wonder, and screamed and clapped in recognition and thanks to those involved with the making of such a monumental film.

Time passed so quickly, it hadn't felt like we'd been sitting in these theater seats, unmoving, for the last three hours?

Of course, we will have the TT Special Edition (rumored to contain an extra 35 min of footage) to look forward to - in NOVEMBER of 2003!

The acting was superb, the CGI was nearly flawless, and the pace of the film was excellently set. How the filmmakers will squeeze the next film into three hours is anyone's guess. But I, along with the rest of the world, will be anxiously awaiting Dec 17th 2003, for the climactic end to this beautifully adapted tale.