READ THE BOOKS!

Rating: 9/10 (2 January 2002)

First of all, I say to all those who are considering seeing this movie, to read the first book FIRST. It WILL help. I have a feeling that most of the people here who did not like this movie have NEVER read these books.
In case you all don't know, the series has THREE parts. This is only the FIRST part. Those who say "they didn't finish the story" are right. Yes, they have NOT finished the story. They are doing this the RIGHT way. They have done each book as a separate movie. Wait for part 2 and 3 before you have this opinion. And, those who think this tiliogy should have been made into one movie are just completely WRONG. These books are WAY too complex to make into one movie. There is NO way to gloss over some of the points in these books. So, to the producers of this movie, I say RIGHT ON. Do this RIGHT.
Now to the movie. I have been a fan of The Lord of the Rings for a LONG time. It is the series that got me interested in roll play games, and sparked my limited imagination. Although this movie is not perfect, I feel it is as close as can be. This series really is quite complex, and it is hard to do it right. I thought all the scenes were well done, especially the Shire. The acting may not have been perfect, but it wasn't bad. And, oh MY, the special effects were simply STUNNING. This is a must see for anybody, and I wouldn't be surprised if it wins at least a couple of well-deserved Oscars.