A great film, but not quite to the level of the first film in the trilogy. Jackson had to take liberties with the scene sequence of the book and the result was I just never got a chance to settle in at any one place long enough. The most glaring difference was the music, not to the level of the FOTR, and the closing song, as the credits rolled, was painful to hear---the one truly bad decision Jackson has made since he started these films. Glossed over was the fact that Elrond is Halfelven, that his brother chose a mortal life many millenia before and that Arwen can choose to surrender her immortality. More time should have been spent with the Ents like Quickbeam and less time creating scenes like Aragorn pitching over a cliff with a Warg. This was obviously spliced in to give weight to the passion developing in the heart of the Maiden of Rohan for Isildur's heir. I guess I am being spoiled in my assessment, as the first movie was so good I expected the second to be that much better, like The Empire Strikes Back was better than Star Wars. Disappointed, but stiill deserves five stars and hopefully the Return of the King meets every excpectation.