A wonderful tale, beautifully told!

Rating: 10/10 (3 January 2002)

This film is simply brilliant! As a long-time fan of the books, I was simple breathtaken by this exquisite portrayal of my favourite home away from home.

Is it completely faithful to the text? Certainly not. Is it a wonderful adaptation, keeping the same feeling and heart of the original? Yes, indeed!
How anyone can dislike this film is beyond me. The best I can figure is that they are not familiar with the books, but I would hope that that alone isn't the answer. It's hard for me to judge how I would have reacted to Jackson's masterpiece, had I not already been so familiar with the characters and the locale, but I can only hope that the extraordinary performances, the intriguing plotting and beautiful vistas would have won me over anyway. As I hope that they will win others over too.
MINOR SPOILER AHEAD!
Also, I cannot understand the critique I hear about an abrupt and unsatisfying end. As far as that criticism goes, I can't see a difference between this end and the end of "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Back to the Future II," both of which ends without a conclusion or nice little wrap-up.

END OF SPOILER...
So far I have seen this film three times, and I plan on going again tonight. I just cannot get enough of the rich details and the marvelous story! Every time I view it, I see something I didn't see before. This movie is most certainly deserving of its critical praise, its high IMDb rating, and any future awards it may garner. If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favour and go tonight! If you are a fan of the books, and/or fantasy, and/or simply a good story, you won't regret it!