did I ruin the film?

Rating: 4/10 (14 January 2002)

did I ruin the film by reading the books years ago? I had the strangest feeling watching this incredibly praised film that I live in an alternative universe where we were forced to watch a rather tiresome version of the film. I was ecstatic to hear all the critics praising the film, ecstatic to hear all the early viewers praising the film, but it certainly didn't live up to the hype that it had been given.
Minor Spoilers
there were many things that disappointed me in the film - the shallow characters and comedy relief that Pippen and Merry play, the whole council of Elrond, the battle of the wizards, and, my god, the final "let's hunt some orc" nonsense from Aragorn. Hey Peter Jackson, couldn't you just take a couple more days and make sure some of those scenes were done a little better?
the battle scenes were good. hollywood certainly knows how to show someone getting sliced up or beheaded nowadays. but I just had a hard time finding the soul of the movie.
spoilers end
maybe if some critics had said that they didn't know what all the fuss was about, then I would have gone in with lower standards, and maybe on some rainy end of winter day, i'll give it another chance, but for now I believe that millions have somehow been duped into believing that this is a great movie ("the best of all time" as too many imdb reviews state).
honestly, and this hurts because I was such a fan of the book, i have to give it a 6 out of 10.