Not to be missed! (Possible Spoilers)

Rating: 9/10 (26 December 2003)

This film recaptured much of the feeling that 'Fellowship' created, and that I felt was missing from 'Two Towers'. The spirit of the story, the emotional engagement with the characters, the feeling of being part of the struggle in Middle Earth were back; and the areas in which the film differed from the book did not detract from it. There was a lot of action (enough to keep my action/adventure junky husband interested) but it did not overwhelm the plot, and the encounter with Shelob was really fantastic! I was sorry that they had to cut so much of the ending ... what happened to Saruman, the struggle in the shire and the aftermath ... but I understand that they'd have had to make 4 movies to include it all. I'm really looking forward to getting some of that back in the extended version DVD. Overall an excellent movie and well worth 3 1/2 hours in uncomfortable seats!