Worth seeing again.

Rating: 9/10 (3 January 2002)

From the comments that I have read, it seems that most viewers either love it or hate it. I have read the books more times than I can count and have seen the movie twice. I liked the movie better the second time and am planning to go a third time. But, there were some things that I was disappointed in. I went to the movie both times with people that have not read the books. They liked it but then peppered me with many questions about the characters. I wished that the film spent just a bit more time in character development and slightly less in the battle scenes and the births of orcs. For example, one of my guest noticed that only Aragon was happy to come to Lothlorin and that he seemed to know the Lord and Lady. Yet, this is not explained in any way. Just a few spoken lines would have done it. We also came away with the impression that the Lady was not as wonderful and friendly as she was in the book. It would have been so wonderful to see all the travellers get their gifts from the Lady as well as Gimli's new found love for her. We all noticed their new cloaks and broches but again, no explaination. So, overall, we felt that the movie did rely on hope that most of its audience would have read the books to know the characters or that if not, then they would not care. But, for the good part - the Shire scenes were just beautiful, as well as Rivendell. The actors were the characters that they played and were totally captivating. I would recommend this movie!