Hmmm...so this is lord of the rings?

Rating: Null/10 (10 January 2002)

Lord of the rings is an immense work of fantasy myth by an acknowledged expert in the field - J R R Tolkien. So for anyone to assume that they can do better than him is a bit arrogant to say the least. Having watched the film I was disappointed in how much was cut out of the story and all the needless changes in the script and locations made for no apparent reason. There is nothing in the books that can not be filmed and with a budget of tens of millions per film it should have been an authentic realisation of the book, but falls far short. Elijah Wood could not act his way out of a wet paper bag. As one reviewer said `he frequently uses the wide eyed look of a rabbit looking down a shotgun', while the rest of the cast are fine and suit the part they play. The CGI work is on the whole very good apart from the cave troll in Moria and the balrog should have as Tolkien said `a bear like appearance'. Overall a very good film, as a film but not as a story of lord of the rings. If a directors cut is produced for DVD I would like to see at least another 30 to 40 minutes added on to fill in the gaps. 4/10.