This is different than other situations

Rating: 10/10 (21 December 2001)

There are plenty of other comments about the film and its qualities and drawbacks here, though make no mistake I've got plenty of opinion about that.
If you're familiar with the story, go see the movie without hesitation. I'm extremely familiar with it, so I don't think it was possible for me to get lost in it or confused.
If you're FANATIC about the story, well, you'll find lots of Tolkien fans that are ready to rip this film for its departures from the text, and just as many movie fans that are ready to defend Peter Jackson for the decisions he has to make to turn this into a film, epic or no.
The comments I've read from people who don't know the story run the gamut.
But there is something to keep in mind: This isn't one of three, any more than the book was one of three. It's the beginning of a very long tale. The book has action, yes, but also a lot of walking around and conversation and reflection. No matter how brief Peter Jackson makes the action scenes, he probably isn't going to have enough screen time to develop everything all at once.
Those familiar with the story know all the back-end relationships already. They hold them near and dear to their hearts. We have to trust that Jackson will develop them over the course of three movies.
The same can be said of those that find the ending anticlimactic. It isn't an ending. It's a convenient stopping point. Think back to Star Wars, which could have been its own standalone movie with enough climax to never go on to
Empire. Lucas didn't know if it would be a hit. If it was, great, let's continue (he had the whole story mapped out anyway). If it wasn't, well, on to the next project.
Of course, ESB was clearly to be followed up, so he had the liberty of leaving a lot of things hanging.
Well, we all know that movies 2 and 3 are coming. Jackson doesn't have to provide true climax here--only in the last installment will that be necessary.