Scratches the surface: just not complete

Rating: 9/10 (17 December 2003)

I really enjoyed it, and I have no doubt I'll enjoy it again in an hours time when I see it again. But we know the story and the characters so well now that the final product can't fail to disappoint.
* Spoilers below *
3 hours 22 minutes is not too long: why cut Saruman? Why make Gollum more devious and calculating in creating the rift between Frodo and Sam? Why make Pippin even more foolish in the Palantir episode? Only to make him even greater near the end of the film!
The changes I can forgive, but the omissions I couldn't. Jackson has created a splendid trilogy, but I'm not wholeheartedly behind it. I honestly think that those who haven't read the books won't be able to appreciate the films as deeply as one can read the books. You can say that's not necessary, that the subtext of the books is superfluous in a cinematic medium, but I disagree. Jackson took on an epic of fantastic scale and has delivered only in the spectacle, not the substance.