Don't let the hype catch you **spoilers**

Rating: 4/10 (19 December 2001)

I've just been at a showing of this film today of its premier, and yes I've read the books. I do enjoy them quite a bit, however most of the things that are good with the book are somehow lost in this film. Given you can, and have to I guess, take away stuff from the book to be able to make a film out of it, this one is a good example on how you should not do that.
The film starts off with a big battle. Which looks very CG. But oh well, that's how it starts. It wasn't yesterday I read it, but I can't remember the book having any of this stuff in the beginning. Do they include it just to have an excuse for an action sequence or for the exposition? If it is because of the exposition, I think they could've easily let this one and other ones out and instead tried to develop the characters. Remember this movie Star Wars? In the beginning of the first part they talk about the senate, the rebellion, the empire... You haven't got a clue what the hell these are, but the movie still works! I guess this could be because I've read the books, but they just keep on talking about all the things over and over until the seats in the theater knows exactly what it is too. The ring is indestructible. Ok, I get it. Gandalf throws it in the fire but it stays intact. Uh-huh. Gimli hits it with his axe, but its the axe that is destroyed, not the ring. I know it, already!
In the film we get to see Saruman and Gandalf and Saruman's place a lot (Mordor?). In the first book Saruman and how he makes the Orcs and everything are hardly even mentioned. I think they should have let it be like that. More for your imagination to make up, you know. The story is about the fellowship of the ring right? I don't care about Saruman, I don't need him until the second book. I sense a bit of Star Wars influence here, this with showing bits of what the empire is doing all the time. In SW it works, this movie would've done fine without it. Another thing is the part where they cut down all the trees, they don't explain to the poor people who haven't read the books what is so important about that... Could be fun for them to know maybe. Or don't care about showing it, please.
Also the character development is lacking. Sam, Merry and Pippin are like smaller and less extreme versions of Jar-Jar Binks. Their only purpose seem to be so they can get captured by the Orcs so a few of the fellowship guys have to go after them. They join the mission just because they are stupid and happen to show up in right in time, or something like that. Not like in the book out of friendship with Frodo.
Also I think they heavily mess up the place where Gandalf fights the balrog. Again, I could be wrong, but in the book didn't Gandalf practically sacrifice himself for the rest of the fellowship? He chose to stay behind and fight it knowing he would have to go down with it too. In this movie he seems to be able to defeat the balrog and still go on, but right when he's about to go the balrog gets him with his whip and drags him along. Changes Gandalf's personality and heroism very much in my humble opinion.
I do like the fight scenes however, especially the fight in the dwarf cave and the one in the end. The shaky camera is nothing but a nuisance, but other than that they are great. Gollum is very well done aswell, almost exactly the way I imagined him. Looking forward to seeing more of him in part two and three.
The whole film on the other part could've been done much better. I doubt that without the popularity of the books, people wouldn't have liked it as much as they claim they do now. I was a lot younger when I saw it, but I remember enjoying the animated version from 1978 more than this one which really isn't much more than OK. Oh, and I can also mention its too long. Many of the scenes seem to drag on for very long.