[HCIsland]

Just putting my vote in here that I love the movie, not as much as Fellowship, but I've still seen it twice and definitely will be seeing it a third time. I've never been like this with any other film and I was 13 years old when the first Star Wars came out. It never grabbed me as much as this has.<P>I also want to make it official that I've read the books a long time ago (Hobbit, LoTR, Silmarilian, Unfinished Tales and Lost Tales) and reread them. I fully understand all the changes and they do not bother me. I see the novel and the movies as completely different animals. I understand the changes as being necessary for a very different medium and the need to reach a broader audience (studios don't give 100's of millions to someone to make a film that marketed to a small clic - sorry, but that's reality).<P>I encourage all those that love the films to explore the world deeper by reading the books, but if that isn't your cup of tea, that's fine. The films can certainly appeciated on their own.<P>The reason I'm getting this all out is that I'm a little tired of posting in all the "PJ butchered the book" threads. I'm tired of the arguements. If you want to hate the film fine, that's your right and post to your heart's content, but I do find it curious how even the people that complain so much about it have seen it multiple times and will, by their own admission, be buying the DVD's. I just want to make my position clear, I love Tolkien and I love the films. They are not mutually exclusive.<P>H.C.