It's 'Lord of the Rings' come to life.

Rating: 10/10 (23 February 2002)

I read this story to my kids. It was about, I don't Know, twenty five years ago. The 'kids' are young adults now, one with a child of her own. The other night, The 'Kids' took Mom and Pop to the movies to see what damage the Film Makers had done to Tolkiens beautifully written words. Well we sat there absolutely enthralled. The much repeated whisper that passed up and down our little section of seats was "Incredible, it's just the way I always pictured him(Each character) or it(The Shire) or them(Orks, elves, Hobbits, wraiths). Tolkiens ability to build images in the readers mind is exceptional. That each reader saw the same image as the others is astounding.
If you've read any of the trilogy, I promise that (unlike Dune) you will not be disappointed with this film. If you have not read Tolkien Then you'll just have to be satisfied with some incredible special FX and action scenes on a scale that you've not seen before. The computer generated stuff is seemless and the pace heart racing. I'm a fan of action/adventure and fantasy when it's done well and this film was done very well.