Wife & I just came back from seeing it. I've read Tolkien's trilogy more times than I can count. His worlds and its characters have established themselves well in my imagination over the years. Going to see this movie, I would have to say I had some trepidations regarding how well it would hold true to the imagery of The Fellowship of the Ring. I was not dismayed. Excellent movie and a credit to the director's love of Tolkien's work. I've seen some speak of it as a "snore-fest"...not for those that have appreciated the trilogy, I don't believe...

 

I thought the movie rocked, but I'm a fan of Tolkien's work and I could see how someone who hasn't read the books would be turned off. It's got so many details and characters and more than one name for most of the characters.

 

i want to read the hobbit and the trilogy now

 

while you're at it, read Harry Potter too...I thought the movie complimented the book well!

 

I think Jackson did a great job. He managed to introduce a lot of detail that I thought would get left out and left out or changed things that really didn't matter to the overall plot. And you can tell Alan Lee was a conceptual artist on the movie. There are several scenes in the movie that are straight from some of his paintings. Arwen played a bigger role in the movie than i the books but nowhere near what I was anticipating. As for some of the "love" between Arwen and Aragorn you can read most of all that in the appendices of Return of the King. It's not like Jackson pulled that out of thin air. I think he captured the essence book very well. Legolas was a bad dude with that bow.

 

7 outa 10 stars from me. Great cinematography, special effects.....but found myself fidgeting about 2 hours into it(And yes, I've read the book). They did a great job sticking to the books storyline.

 

I thought the movie rocked! But my one gripe is that they made Gandalf too weak...I mean, come on, a "super-mage" like that needs to be swinging swords when fighting orcs?!?! I thought he'd be hucking fireballs and lightning bolts!!

 

I thought it was great. I've seen it four times already. I only had a problem with a few scenes, such as when Galadrieal started screaming and looked like J-Lo and when Gandalf was going "is it safe, is it safe?" in bag end. He looked too afraid. Gandalf is always in control in my mind.

For you Tolkien fans out there, here's the real question. Do Balrog's have wings?
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=445926 scroll down some to read about it.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by xpander4
[B]Dumb movie, I would have enjoyed it if it came out when I was 12 or so.

 

Execllent movie! Only down side is that you have to limit your liquid intake for 3 hours.