Awesome, but remember it's a film not a book

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2002)

Right, first off - this film is awesome - the wide sweeping pan shots are used to the full extent against breathtaking scenery; the special effects blend beautifully with the live action and the battle scenes are simply amazing.
Now I've read a lot of gripes about how the director strayed from the book, but to these people I say this - you are watching a film, not reading the book. The medium is different and a massive story has to be condensed to 3 hours. Also there are large sections of the book that work well as prose but if filmed would be deadly dull so a certain amount of artistic license has to creep in. Also if the story was told exactly how the book ran, what sort of surprises and twists would there be for those people that know the books well?
As someone who is familiar with the books but not read them for about 20 years, the story did NOT jar at any point, it flowed nicely from point to point and also the director cut between the three threads (Sam & Frodo, Pippin and whatsisface and finally the battle for Rohan) very nicely.
There are going to be a lot of mixed feelings about this film considering it is of one of the most famous and well known stories on the planet. My suggestion is that you should just watch it and enjoy it for what it is.
There was humour and I think (although some will disagree) it defused the situation just the right amount.
No spoilers but things to watch out for and enjoy: The Battle of the Keep, The Attack of the Ents, The Battle of Gandalf and the Balrog, Dragons, Gollum.
This film is better than the 1st - I hate to think how good the third would be.
The only negative thing I can think of is that as the film ends you realise you now have to wait a year for the final chapter!!
This scores 9.9 out of 10