Visually stunning, chunky storyline, Read the book FIRST!!!

Rating: 10/10 (24 December 2001)

The movie was visually stunning. Middle earth was created in great stunning detail. I also enjoyed the characters. The casting crew did an excellent job for this film. The computer animation was very good, except for certain scenes.
Now for the problems...
Four of us went to see this movie myself, my sister, and my two cousins. One of my cousin's and I had read the book, he had read it over 5 years ago and I had read it recently. Both he and I were able to fill in the missing pieces as certain references were made without any foundation. Also, the character development was next to non-existent.
My cousin and I spent at least an hour after the movie answering questions about things that made no sense to someone who hadn't read the book but which were thrown into the movie in an attempt to appease the fans. One example of this is the whole "Bill" scene when they are standing before the mine entrance. There is absolutely no foundation laid for this scene. This reference could have been easily dropped from the film without sacrificing anything. Unfortunately, the film is riddled with these "what just happened?, who is that?" type of questions.
This is great film for fans of the book and people who have read it. Unfortunately, I would not recommend the film to someone who has yet to read the book.
Read the book first, this is one film where Coles crib notes just won't do.....