10 out of 10 even if it has some flaws

Rating: 9/10 (15 January 2002)

First of all, LOTR is not about making money in the first place, contrary to every other blockbuster movie. The people who made this movie, from the director and the technicians to the actors, wanted to make something great and it shows. The movie is trying to convey Tolkiens world to the big screen in a serious way. Throughout the whole movie I felt that the people that made it were honestly trying to achieve this goal instead of making the largest cashcow in years (and if they do earn a lot of money from it than I feel they deserved it). Two keywords here: trying and conveying. Conveying, according to me that is, is capturing the essence, or spirit from the books on celluloid, that means that some parts must be left out and details should be altered. The movie therefore is an adaption of the books and a great one at it too. In trying to make the best possible movie Peter Jackson didn't succeed all the way, the only thing I missed was some character development. The music, the effects and the actors were great, unfortunately some of them (like Gimli) remain a bit bland, you don't get to know them. But that may still change, rumor has it that the DVD release features extra scenes and of course there will be two more movies in which those characters can still grow, after seeing the 2d and 3d movie your perspective on the characters will have been changed when you rewatch part 1. I give this movie a 10/10 for being a great and sincere movie, I felt good after seeing this and I'm glad that Tolkiens work was not adapted into the standard hollywood formula as to please any limited attention spanned popcorn eating degenerates
Alexander van Aken