Point-blank, the best film I have seen.

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2001)

I have been a longtime fan of Tolkien; I've read The Hobbit, the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, and The Silmarillion many times. So of course, I have been looking forward to this movie for a long time. Since I was such a fan, I was hoping that the film wasn't a total botch. The excellent reviews from professional critics were a real boost, as was the movie's quite good web site, but I just had to see it for myself.
WOW!!! This movie surpasses everything I have ever seen. The original "Star Wars" movies don't even compare. Having been immersed in LotR, I can't really speak for those who go into the theater without having read the books, but I have not spoken with anyone who thinks the movie leaves them confused. The opening scenes tell the history of the Ring clearly, and the rest of the movie is just as simple to follow.
Purists may possibly object to scenes in this movie that are told about by characters in the book but are actually shot in the film, but I think it is a more-than-acceptable adaptation for a movie to do this. Instead of having a character just telling about something that happened to him, the action is shown (sometimes during the telling).
The film is beautifully shot and edited, with a grand sound track to fit the imagery. The parts where Frodo the hobbit has put on the One Ring are truly eerie -- especially one toward the end (**possible spoiler**) where he is rushed to the Dark Tower in Mordor as soon as he puts the Ring on. The battle scenes are not gory at all, and very little blood is shown in the movie. The battles are effective because of the intensity of the pictures and the sounds -- they work because they work on the mind.
This movie is 3 hours long, but it was worth every minute and every penny. That may seem long, but after you see it, you won't want to cut anything out of it to shorten it. If you see "Harry Potter" and skip this film, you have missed out on the best movie of the year -- and, quite simply, the best movie I have ever seen. 10/10!