A fine attempt, but too long!

Rating: 6/10 (2 January 2003)

Everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon that this is the greatest movie ever made. I disagree. First, let me say that I have read all three books in the trilogy twice, and I love this story. However, this was too long. It may just be that Tolkien's books are too much to try to put into a movie. I will say that this was probably the best effort that could be made by a human. But no movie can truly capture the feeling and human quality of the books.
The battle sequences were not emotionally engaging. And the orcs are too "over-the-top" scary for my taste. I did like the sequences between Frodo, Sam and Gollum. The portrayal of the ring's effect on Frodo was well done.
All-in-all, this is a downer of a movie. It's the book in the trilogy that is the darkest. Hopefully, the third movie will be a good uplifting ending to this set of three.