Steady on there folks!

Rating: 9/10 (7 January 2002)

There seems to be a massive polemic developing between those who are familiar with the book and the neophytes that have never been exposed to JRRT's work.
To the ones who are au fait with the book and have negative comments to make I would say this, The LOTR is a massive tome and in my 5 times of reading it I have come up with different images, emotions and thoughts. Peter Jackson has done what anyone would do in his situation and that is emphasise his own perspective. I personally loved the film, probably because I identified with a lot of what was emphasised but I was disappointed with some of the omissions. However I reckon there was enough left in to hold true to the spirit of the tale without running the film into 6-7 hours. I know there are fans (and I'm probably one myself) who would flock to see this, but it's a trifle elitist to hope that Hollywood would start making films just for the hardcore, multiple-readings, got-no-girlfriend (oh woe is me) fanatics
And to those who say it's the best film ever, I can't agree. It's brilliat and will blow you away, but read the book and steep in Tolkiens imagery and landscapes and you will be REALLY blown away. For the best film ever you have to go with something you need to think about as well as surf the wave of excitement that is FOTR.