i can't honestly say that i'm really much of a tolkien fan, but i have read the books. and i see the value in them.... and yeah, they were good. but i can't honestly say that i was waiting with baited breath for the movie to come out. wasn't there on opening night.....i kinda think that when i went to see it, there were maybe 3 people in the theater that had actually read the book....i wanted so much to dislike this movie. i wanted to pick apart the details. i wanted to find and be really angry over every discrepancy between the book and the movie. but i couldn't do that. i'm sitting in the theater watching it, and i couldn't help but think it was incredibly well done. i will grant that the movie didn't follow the book 100%, but i think that the more important thing (and the more amazing thing) is that it did follow the spirit of the book. i think that any idiot can write or direct or act in a movie that just goes straight down what's in the book.....but there was more to it with this movie. it was brilliantly directed and i thought that the actors did an incredible job. i am extremely glad that it was directed as such, because you really can't let the fans decide what the movie will be--you can never make everyone happy. so i think five stars, and i can't wait to see the other two movies.