[Mooncalf]

I was really surprised when I first heard LOTR fans complaining about the movies. The LOTR movies were the first movies-from-books I ever saw that actually did justice to the books. Sure, they don't follow the books exactly, because we experience movies differently from the way we experience books-- and besides, the movies would have been way too long if they had followed the books exactly.<P>It could have been a lot worse. Look at the Harry Potter movies: in the next one they're going to have Hermione wearing a pink hoodie (I know most of you could care less , but if you've read the books you'll know it's an outrage...). Look what the did to "The Princess Diaries"-- the movies hardly had anything at all to do with the books.<P>The LOTR movies conveyed JRT's world just as I had seen them in my mind when I read the books-- and they're even good movies in their own rights. The only thing that bothers me is Elijah Wood's overacting, and even that didn't ruin the whole movie.<P>So, anyway, I'm really glad I saw the movies. I made a point to read all the books before seeing the movies, because in my experience the movie is never nearly as good as the book-- but in these movies I was pleasantly surprised.<P>The books are better, of course, but really. The movies were pretty darn good considering what you usually get.<P>[/ramble]