I'm cautiously optimistic. Peter Jackson seems to know what he's doing, and has some genuine respect for the material. The cast is very international, and yes, Frodo and Sam are played by American actors (Elijah Wood and Sean Astin), the hobbits can't all have American accents, surely, as Sir Ian Holm is playing Bilbo and I think both Merry and Pippin are played by Brits.

Lessee, who else? Gandalf-Ian McKellan; Saruman-Christopher Lee; Gimli-John Rhys-Davies!; Galadriel-Cate Blanchett; Grima Wormtongue-Brad Dourif!; Denethor-rumored to be Donald Sutherland; Boromir-Sean Bean!; The Mouth of Sauron-Bruce Spence, aka Gyro Captain from Mad Max 2.

Chris