Not as good as it could have been

Rating: 8/10 (19 December 2001)

The movie felt rushed. There were many locations in the story, but it seemed there was not enough time to connect their scenes properly.

The audience was told the history of the One Ring at the beginning -- this I appreciated. But I would have liked more exposition into the planning of the Fellowship's journey, or something that gives a reason for visiting each fantastic locale. For example, near the beginning of the journey the Fellowship attempts to traverse snow-covered mountains. Why did they choose this course of action? Were the mountains absolutely unavoidable save braving the Mines of Moria? I would have liked the Council of Elrond to have discussed the plans of the Fellowship so that the audience could look forward to seeing the execution of those plans (and subsequently see how those plans are adjusted mid-journey and ultimately fall asunder). The Council could have detailed the plans, and then the movie could have taken an old-fashioned intermission. When the movie resumes the audience would look forward to the Fellowship's journey, which can be viewed as a new chapter (Frodo and the audience would feel a sense of relief that he has gotten the One Ring to Rivendell, haven of the wise Elves, but during the intermission they would prepare for a larger, more treacherous journey toward Mount Doom).
The movie would have felt less constricted had it been 3.5 hours long. Maybe the director was under pressure to fit the entire story within a 3-hour block, but apparently this could not be done without compromising the storyline, in my opinion.
A minor complaint: Gimli hardly swung his axe at Orcs! Every character had his moment during the battles except for the Dwarf.