Best novel ever. Best movie ever.

Rating: 10/10 (12 December 2001)

I can't tell you how, but I saw the first installment of the Lord of the Rings and it literally blew me away in every aspect. The actors were all perfect (Ian McKellan, Chris Lee and Viggo Mortenson were dead on). The shrinking of the hobbits and dwarf (let's not forget Gimli) were done to perfection you never even considered that they weren't the same height. It never looked phony. The cinematography and art direction will win hands down at the Oscars. So will Peter Jackson for best director. The only complaint I have about this movie is, as a Tolkien fan, it was too short. I completely agreed with the cutting out of scenes and the 'refining' of others to give the story more appeal. I had no problem with Liv Tyler's acting or her replacing Glorfindel. I think it is essential to the later movies. The ringwraiths are very frightening and I guess my only complaint (well more like a comment) is that young children WILL be afraid... I have no complaint because unlike Star Wars 1 and Harry Potter, this movie IS made for adults and not children or pre-teens. I give it a 10/10. It will be very hard to wait another year for the two towers, and maybe even harder to wait another week to see the film again. Kudos to the actors, director, WETA and everyone else who took part in this epic movie. JRR Tolkien would be proud.