Hey, It's Just A Movie Guys!!!

Rating: Null/10 (14 January 2002)

Let's face it, this is just a movie, and a very long one at that. Movies don't necessarily follow the book they are taken from, and the majority of people that watch this film will not have read any Tolkien books and never will.
And so, was it any good? Well, as movies go it wasn't bad. If you like to look at a movie and not have to think too much, well this is probably your thing too. The film really does lack any kind of script to speak of, but it looks great. It is in the vein of great adventure movies a la Spielberg, but without the economy that he brings to a good yarn. The movie cuts to the chase from the beginning, and only sags a little in the middle, but otherwise is just two and a half hours of pure unadulterated action movie dressed up as a fairytale.
By the end I was looking forward to getting out of the cinema seat as my bottom had gone to sleep, as were the rest of the audience, virtually the whole cinema left as soon as the credits rolled, and a few people wandered off to the toilets during the movie, and the guy next to me was clock watching from about an hour and a half into the film, so it wasn't as great as some people seem to believe.
So yes, it's worth going to see, but it most certainly is not one of the greatest movies ever made, and wouldn't even make it into my top 100.
But I would give it 7 out of ten just for entertainment value.