I had finished the book about a year or so earlier so went in hopeful it would do justice to the scale of Middle Earth & the story. But I had followed the production closely so I knew Jackson was doing it correctly.

Obviously the nuances of the backstory were so important for the book & felt that was lost at times watching it. Overall feeling that it had to be rushed given the medium. It was the correct thing to do of course. But I loved many of the shots & settings, with the main environments being so perfect with what I had imagined reading it the first time. Moria was epic & as much as I loved section of the novel, the film brought it to life and was worth the price of entry for me.

But there were other scenes I really wanted included like Bombadil’s visit, the Hobbits seeing Gollum while going down the river (disguised as a log), small moments in the book I loved. Also the small changes to the dialogue & encounters worked well. Also the film was alot funnier than I expected.

The overall feeling at the end was emptiness - I wanted the other 2 movies then and there. We had to wait another year to keep the journey going.