I thought it was totally awesome. It wasn't perfect...but that's because everyone who's read the books already has their own image of certain people, places and events. I thought that PJ did an excellent job of capturing what most people felt. Special effects were awesome. Scenery was awesome. Acting was awesome, and even the parts which were not true to the book all flowed seamlessly. 9.8 out of 10.
What stopped it from being 10 out of 10? If I had to be *really* critical, I would have said that 3 hours was just not enough to capture everything in detail. I found it was a LOT more enjoyable if I stopped trying to think of what *should* happen next and just concentrated on what *did* happen next.
If I was in charge, I would have done SIX movies, each 2 hours each, and released them every six months. Public is happy, studio is happy! (Most importantly, I would be VERY happy!
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Also, I felt that there was a little bit too much assumed knowledge of the book, and that non-readers would find it a bit difficult to follow. For example Galadriel and Celeborn were not introduced in Lothlorien (all the readers knew who she was, but my mother - not a reader - didn't. She enjoyed the movie nonetheless.).
But those are VERY small criticisms. This is without a doubt one of the best movies I've ever seen. It surpassed my expectations!!