The texture and mood of the book comes through on the screen

Rating: 10/10 (25 December 2001)

The only time a movie is an exact reproduction of a book is when the book was mindless fluff to begin with. Since this book is mammoth in scope, riddled with themes and multi-dimensional characters, and as lushly rich in its prose style as anything ever written, it cannot be copied to the big screen. It needed to be distilled. That is what I saw in this production. The fundamental themes and characters were melded with the latest cinematic magic to create an image of the feelings I get while reading the masterpiece. It portrays heroism in the face of great evil, by unexpected characters. I wouldn't ever consider the movie a replacement for the book. It's a supplement.