As a film - GREAT, as a book to celluloid - OOOOPS!!!!!

Rating: 10/10 (21 December 2001)

Taken as if the book did not exist then this is a truly great film, with some of the best cinematography and special effects I have ever seen on the big screen. It will claim Oscars galore especially in the technical areas. No-one lets themselves down in the acting stakes, Ian McKellen is Gandalf, Sean Astin is Sam, and Christopher Lee is Saruman. 168 minutes flew by in all but the bladder. GO SEE THIS MOVIE.
BUT!!!!!! and it is a pretty big but, as an avid Tolkien fan I exited the cinema thinking not what was right with the film, but what was wrong, what was missing, what went against the spirit of Tolkien. The book is much more complex than this. It has more parallel storylines, more inter weaving of both plots and characters and a bigger vision. What Peter Jackson has dismissed as unnecessary to the telling of the story is the exact same thing that is vital to suck you in to the book. That makes the middle earth believable, that makes you care and what makes you want to know more. When New Line told Mr. Jackson, no not two films but THREE!!! Maybe He missed his opportunity to say "Well if your that keen let's make the ultimate interpretation, - make it six films"
IF ONLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!