Great movie, but it's not the book

Rating: 10/10 (7 January 2002)

I saw this movie a week after it opened, and thought that it was quite possibly the best movie I'd ever seen. I felt this way for two reasons, one, I hadn't read the book. Two, I hadn't payed much attention to the hype. When I went to see Harry Potter, I had read all the books, and followed the news of the project's development carefully. After seeing the movie, I thought it didn't keep to the book well enough, and so, even though it was an excellent movie, I was disappointed. When I saw Lord of the Rings, I enjoyed it immensely and I have since started reading the book. The movie is significantly different, but I think it captures well the feeling of the book. It also does a better job at conveying a subtle terror that the book merely hinted at. I went in to the movie without any expectations and came out thinking that it is a crime if it doesn't win Best Picture. The acting was amazing, the casting perfect, and the story well-told. So whether it follows the book exactly isn't important, watch it as a movie unto itself, not as a movie made from the book.