i know everybody has been breathlessly awaiting my opinion, hahaha, so here it is. i never read these books, though i'm familiar with the story, from animated films i'd watch in the lower school library while cutting class. i tried reading 'the hobbit' once, but i thought the writing was cornball- a wizard showing up randomly at somebody's house and telling them he needs help for an adventure he's arranging... but my, aren't adventures messy business?... blah blah blah. the point is, i cared about the characters, a lot, and all of the actors were superb without fail. the effects weren't all i'd hoped they'd be. when the elf jumps on the troll's back in the mine, at one point, it exactly mirrors a scene from harry potter, even fx-wise. peter jackson, the director, jumped on the cgi bandwagon just as he jumped on the morphing bandwagon when he made 'heavenly creatures', just after t2 came out, and morphing was god. i have nothing against state-of-the-art fx, but some styles are better than others, and directors should use them according to the mood they're trying to create, and not just because they are most real . cgi never fools me; it's always 2-d, and the lighting never works... it looks like liquid in a world of ice. but back on the point, i didn't think ian mckellan had what it took to play gandalf- he's too harmless- but he kicked ass. elijah wood was especially good, as was the guy who plays aragorn aragorn's player tries too hard with the facial stuff during the film to make himself present, but by the end he has definitely earned his future kingdom. christopher lee is still the genius he always was- you really hate his guts in the movie, he totally manipulates you -and i'm glad with this and sw2, he's finally getting some roles worthy of him. this movie is definitely not set on earth, or new zealand- it really is a world of its own. even though i went out afterwards, i couldn't stop thinking about it, but i didn't want to talk about it either. i was just very happily stunned. i'm going to see this movie many, many times.