Overall a superb epic, but some may be disappointed. (SLIGHT SPOILER, NO BIG DEAL)

Rating: 10/10 (2 August 2002)

I have been a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien (the author of the books The Lord of the Rings) for many, many years. When I found out that Peter Jackson was going to direct a movie based on Tolkien's epic books, I was ecstatic and, at the same time, worried. I did not think anyone could make a successful interpretation of the books and put it on the big screen. I was wrong. This movie is fantastic, and it brings us back to the old days of movies when you could watch a movie and be taken into another place for two hours or more. Epics have always been great movies. I cannot think of a single epic that has been a bad movie, and LOTR is no difference. Critics called Gladiator an epic, and it was, but Lord of The Rings is an ADVENTURE. This movie will take you far out of the movie theater, and into places that you can only imagine. Tolkien started what has become the traditional "fantasy" epic (elves, orcs, dwarves, et cetera). He also did it the best. Now, I know this is supposed to be about the movie, so I'll get right on it. The movie does a great job of bringing Tolkien's magic to the screen. He takes into account the fact that many people have NEVER read Tolkien's books, and does a great job of explaining anything a newcomer to the series would have to know. The movie is slightly confusing at times for those who do not know the characters, as the characters do not always call each other by their names (or at least not clearly). For example, (SLIGHT SPOILER), there are two human characters. Boromir and Aragorn. They happen to look slightly alike, and at one point a few of my friends who did not read the books were not sure who was who. (END SPOILER) Other than this, it was an easy to understand film. I'm not going to summarize the movie - that's what the trailers are for. Anyway, the movie has some wonderful battle scenes, although at times they are overly dramatic. Furthermore, there are a few long, drawn out pauses in the movie when action-movie fans will be bored. However, if you do your best to follow the story, they can be interesting. The movie IS long, 3 hours long, actually. Furthermore, the ending is not the standard "ending" of a movie. There is no clear end, because this is only the first installment of the series. There are three movies total, and this is only the first. Don't expect everything to wrap up at the end - its not going to. If you are not a Tolkien fan, I CANNOT guarantee you will love this movie. I can guarantee it is a fantastic movie, however, and that if you follow "suspension of disbelief" and accept the very few things you might not understand, you will enjoy it. If you ARE a Tolkien fan, and you haven't seen this movie, what are you waiting for? You'll adore it. Go, see it, when it comes out on dvd/vhs rent it or buy it. I'm anxiously awaiting The Two Towers (the next installment in the series) to come out :)