Great movie but much ado about nothing

Rating: 7/10 (15 June 2003)

The adventure in this movie is great, but I have a problem with the movie AND the books, and that is, the characters went through all this effort for nothing. I have no sympathy for characters who cause their own problems.
Gandalf could have summoned an eagle (you know, the kind that rescued him from Eisengard) to the Shire, Frodo could have hopped on, flown to Mordor and dropped the ring into Mount Crumpet, or wait, I mean, Mount Doom, and the whole thing would have been over in 2 hours tops, including a break for lunch.
I don't understand what the fuss was all about?