Is this what Tolkien envisioned?

Rating: 7/10 (20 December 2001)

If you have never read the book you will LOVE this movie. If, however you saw the movie and are now planning to read the book then you have lost something. No, I didn't say that backwards. The book is fifty thousand times better than the movie. If you see the movie and THEN read the book then you lost out on the hands down most incredible piece of fiction ever written. In your mind Kate Blanchett will always be Galadriel, Elijah Wood will always be Frodo and so on and so forth. I feel sorry for all the fans of the book that claim that this is what they imagined when they read it. No offense ,but they must have the worst imaginations in the world. Lothlorien was supposed to be a restful place of light, happiness and peace ,a place where all cares are forgotten. Instead it's dark and dreary,(aren't mallorn leaves supposed to be gold?) and Galadriel is stern and frightening. Where was the box of soil she gives to Samwise? Isn't that kind of crucial to the end of the story? I can see why they cut out Tom Bombadil and the Barrowdowns, but would it have killed them to cast Glorfindel or explain Caradhras? What about great moments like Gandalf telling Saruman,"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." The only scene that was good was Gandalf facing down the Balrog. That was pretty awesome.
Tolkien was never typical fantasy which is why I love his work. There is a spirit behind it, a pureness that I have not encountered elsewhere. They took it and turned it into your ordinary Dungeons & Dragons/Willow fantasy poop. However:) if you don't compare it to the book at all it might be the best movie ever made. That's the genius that is Tolkien.