Briefly

Rating: 9/10 (20 December 2001)

I expect everyone else has already said what I want to say, so I'll be
brief:
1) The visuals are stunning, and the special effects seamless.
2) The performances are high quality, even managing to overcome a fairly
portentous script.
3) Much of the novel (part one) is retained, and those parts which are
cut are unimportant.
4) The grandeur of Tolkien's vision is preserved, even if some of the
charm is lost.
5) The female characters are promoted way over their significance in the
book (but that's the 21st century for you).
(POSSIBLE MINOR SPOILER FOLLOWS, FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK.)
6) Can anyone tell me where the battle between Gandalf and Saruman is in
the book?
7) Why is it that the IMdB user comments section always cuts off the end
of my comments? Can someone explain this