Managed to see the film while I was in Inggris. My sister, who hadn't read the books (guess what her Christmas present was), was bowled over. Candi (my Indonesian other half)loved it even though he only had the vaguest idea of what was going on and as a general rule doesn't like long films. I found the history of the ring at the beginning rather overlong but can't see how else you could work it all in. Two complaints: what happened to Tom Bombadil? The elves were not elvish enough. They are supposed to be fairer than humans and immortal (barring accidents), not just people with pointy ears. Although Cate Blanchett is a talented actress, she simply was not Galadriel (admittedly it did not help that I'd seen her in Elizabeth on TV the night before.) Apart from that, yes it was great. Beautiful scenery. Moria was wonderful. I'll definitely see it again when it comes to Indonesia.
Bingley
