Excellent

Rating: 10/10 (3 January 2002)

Incredible adaptation of the first book of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. I'm not going to summarize the story--there's way to much going on. All I'll say is they took a verry difficult book with a intricate plot and made it an exciting, totally accesible movie. The film moves quickly (with a few slow spots--but that's to get in the plot) and there's a lot to take in, but I was never confused. I should mention that I tried twice to read the books but found them too hard.
The film looks magical--Middle Earth looks beautifully real. All the special effects are great (the Ring Wraiths are downright terrifying--as they should be) and the action sequences are among the best I've ever seen--fast, long and breathtaking. The film is long (2 hrs, 40 min) but the time flies by. The only problem is that there's so much plot and action going on that you're exhausted by the end--but in a good way.
With the exception of Viggo Mortensen (very wooden) all the actors are good--top honors go to Elijah Wood, Dominic Monaghan, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler and (especially) Ian McKellan.
But the film is VERY violent (despite the PG-13 rating). It deserves an R--this is NOT one for the kids. Still, it's the best film of 2001. SEE IT!!!!