Very Good and mostly faithful to the book

Rating: 9/10 (19 December 2001)

I was a little afraid to see this movie since I thought it wouldn't measure up to the book or take liberties and make the books seem cheap. I was very happy to find that it measured up excellently.
There were a few moments where the acting was a little over the top (like maybe 30 seconds or a minute out of the 3 hour movie) and Lothlorien was a disappointment because it was cold and sterile (the blue lighting?) instead of being green and full of life. Overall great, though. Ian McKellin was amazing as Gandalf.
The art direction was mostly excellent and they didn't cheapen things by making people look stupid or exaggerated. None of the UPN crap of having cheap costumes or blue people or anything outrageous and dumb. Some of the vistas in the movie were breathtaking and everything was incredibly believable.