I guess I have to begin by saying that I have read the books, (I've lost count of the times), and I was (am) a real Tolkien geek, particularly in my teens, some years ago now. In the 70s I was favorably impressed with Bakshi's attempt (I know, I know, I'm sorry) but I think some parts were well done, for the money they had available, and I think Bakshi's heart was in the right place. The cutesy versions of The Hobbit and Return of the King were terrible. When I heard of the attempt to be made by Mr. Jackson (who?) to do a live action version I was, to put it mildly, not looking forward to it, although I knew I would feel obligated to go, and be tortured. Well, the first film is here, I went, and I loved it. I knew some parts would have to be modified, but the job they did was a miracle. It's not perfect, like the books <g>, but Mr. Jackson satisfied this Tolkien fan. To nitpick, I thought that the scenes in Farmer Maggot's field and Bree were not led up to or explained well, the Black Riders might have been explained better, and the stay in Lorien seemed to me a little too new-agey for me. Could I have explained it better? No way, at least not without adding a couple of hours, and most people seem to understand just fine. To those who haven't read the books, I think they make the movie better, whether you liked it or not. I wonder what it would be like to read the books for the first time after seeing the movie(s). This is probably not the best film of all time, it will doubtless come down a few places after the novelty has worn off, but I give it a solid 9.