Quite disappointing, sadly

Rating: 7/10 (20 December 2002)

All right, I still gave it a seven, and the evening wasn't wasted.
But, once all the gush is over, I think this will go down like the equally (initially) hyped TITANIC, and for the same reasons: too much hyperbole, and a reckless disregard for the beauty of the source.
I can quite understand that a film about as dense a book as this must cut out detail. But why ADD detail- and detail that distracts considerably from the integrity of the story?
Let's see: the Ents have to be duped into joining the fight; Faramir does not show his essential difference from his brother Boromir, and captures Frodo and Sam, only releasing them later; Wossisname- the king of Rohan- is physically enchanted by Saruman. (I also don't recall him- or his people- being the way they were portrayed. Thought I'd stepped into a showing of Schindler's List for a while there) Maybe that was why they had to have a wholly unnecessary battalion of elves show up, doubtlessly transported there by Deus ex Machina Airlines?
Tolkien eschewed any use of allegory- spoke outright against it, in fact. Quite a contrast to the several Shakesperian orations (Forests good! Technology bad!!!) in which we discover unsuspected depths in our hobbit friends. Clowns and buffoons in the first, Machiavelis in the second: what will they do in the third?
-And speaking of clowns, am I the only one who objects to Gimli being the comic relief?
Boy, that Tolkien... great story line... if only he'd known how to write...