Film better than the Book

Rating: Null/10 (15 September 2003)

The film is a thousand times better than the book, which is dreary, pretentious, ponderous and downright boring, not half as good as Fellowship of the Ring. If Jackson had followed the book faithfully, the film would have been overlong and indigestible. Tolkien was not the greatest of writers (whatever his worshippers might say)- the book is not sacred, and I for one am grateful for Jackson and Walsh's wonderful reinvention of it.