Too long

Rating: 7/10 (21 July 2004)

The movie is better than a kick to the face, but it is too long - I couldn't wait to get out of the theater. I read the book(s) and felt the same way about them - TOO LONG! In fact Tolkien said he wanted, "to try his hand at a really long story that would hold the attention of readers, amuse them, delight them, and at times maybe excite them or deeply move them." Well he got the really long part of it down and so did Peter Jackson.
I didn't rate this film lower because it is a good film, and it did manage to bring to my attention some parts of the story that I had forgotten. Of course the film (and the whole trilogy for that matter) left out a whole lot of stuff that I do remember (and that I liked) - but I can't complain too much - if they had put those parts in the movie I might still be in the theater watching it! 7/10