One of the best films ever made.

Rating: 10/10 (24 December 2001)

This movie is as good an adaptation of a book into a movie as the 6 hour Dune adaptation by John Harrison was.
Spoilers ahead.
I will preface this review with the observation that some will not like this film. The fight scenes are not pretty little bloodless artfests, like the matrix or crouching tiger, they are realistic and brutal. Characters die, even main characters. And they die in ways that are not pleasant, nor particulary heroic. Dead bodies are stacked like cordwood. Children under the age of about 12 probably shouldn't see this movie because of the brutality and plain evilness.
As a fan of the entire middle earth saga since 1978, I have to say that not only did I like the movie, but I think the movie is better than the books in many ways. Tom Bombadil's inclusion in the books always mystified me. If not for Tom the hobbits would have died twice, right on the borders of their own land. It makes more sense to me that they can walk down a road one county over and make it to the next town under their own power.
Tom's exclusion from the movie really removed a lot of puzzlement that people would have had from trying to understand why they didn't just give the ring to Tom and have him take it to the mountain of Doom and destroy it. After all, the ring had no power over Tom. I understand why, don't explain it to me. Try explaining it to someone who never read the book and do so in under an hour. To me Tom was just a Dues Ex Machina to rescue the hobbits a couple of times but with very arbitrary restrictions on his power.
I kind of missed the revealation of Sam being a spy for Merry and Pippin and their scheme of going with Frodo come hell or high water. In the book they were lifelong friends of Frodo and would have done anything. In the movie, Merry and Pippin just happen along and get sucked into the journey. I like the book version better. But hey, the movie can only be so long.
The meeting between Aragon and Frodo at the conclusion of the Fellowship was better than the book for many reasons. In the book Frodo leaves and Aragon just kind of figures it out. It doesn't make any sense. If you were a man of Aragons honor and integrity, would you let a little hobbit go on and get to Moria all alone? Neither would I. The conversation allowed them to honorably terminate the fellowship.
The picture was lushly shot, the landscapes and the details of Hobbiton, Bagsend, Bree, Rivendell, Moria, Mordor and Lothlorien are spectacular and the attention to detail are perfect. Casting was perfect, acting was awesome, and the monsters all were horrific and believable. The balrog was evil personified and was better than I had ever imagined.
The special effects were done in such a way as to almost be invisible, only being used to further the story and heighten the suspension of disbelief. I hope that all film makers in the future pay attention to this seemless integration of special effects and live action.
Everything combined to make this movie very real to me. Although there was one moment 2 hours into the movie where I realized that there was at least an hour left. 3 hours is a long time to sit still.