I didn't love it, but then I haven't loved any of the films. That said, there were some great things: I thought most of the battles
were fantastic, Minas Tirith was amazingly cool, and as always the scenery was just breathtaking.

Galadriel's casting I can take or leave; as noted above, some things will inevitably seem hokey when translated from page to screen--the whole final 20 minutes of the film felt very corny to me; Gandalf riding on the eagle springs especially to mind. In the first film I was most nonplussed by the fact that the Rivendell scenes were
appeared to have been filmed in the Tavern on the Green in Central Park!

My main problem in all 3 films has been with what I feel is the very poor casting of Frodo---Elijah Wood struck me as all wrong from the very first frame he appeared in. He's too young-looking, for one thing, and seems capable of only 2 facial expressions, to wit: insipid wistful yearning or insipid terror...the apparently obligatory (and insipid) pseudo-Celtic pennywhistle music that wells up each time he & Sam share a special moment just added to my annoyance with him.

I also felt that Sam's character was woefully reduced to that of
well-meaning & loyal but ultimately blocklike and stolid sidekick, when he is in fact one of the most "solid" characters in the story...having him appear reluctant to return the ring to Frodo after taking it for "safekeeping" was all wrong: as I recall things, Sam was always aware of the ring's evil & yet was essentially unaffected by its pull.

But again: it is a bit like comparing apples & oranges to quibble in too much detail, and it's best to look at the film and the book as 2 separate but related entities. It was an enormously ambitious project, and it would have been impossible to please everyone. It will be very interesting to see the extended edition DVD when it appears (probably just in time for next Christmas!).

D.