I can finally give my review after coming out of the theater about 1.5 hours ago.
Overall, I must say I am a wee bit disappointed. Three hours is simply not enough time to render this story right (just the first book!), even if I fully understand they could not make it any longer given production cost realities. The movie seemed rushed, all 3 hours of it. Well, OK, the opening Hobbiton sequences were nicely paced, but once the hobbits crossed the Brandywine, the pace hastened. You did not gain that sense of travel, of journey, of time very well. It was BAM! big @ss sprawling landscape shot, characters talking a little, battle scene, another huge epic shot, more talking, another battle scene. I'm exhausted! I've never seen a film that comes across as so grand and epic, but it's just overwhelming after awhile. It may take a few weeks to read the first book, but seeing all that plot in 3 hours is a mind-bending experience.
If you did not read the book, the movie must have been tremendously frustrating because you may have no idea what they are doing, where they are or why things are happening the way they are. Because I read the books twice, I could fill all the missing details in my head transparently...but the pacing threw me off. The Galadriel sequence seemed long (and the Lady was CREEPY), but any time the characters had to move from place to place, it seemed rushed...One minute you are at Caradhras and the next minute you are banging on the door to Moria. Frodo and Sam cover nearly 1000 miles in the first book, but you would never, never guess that by watching the movie. I guess the act of journeying would look a bit flat and boring on film, but the distance between places is rendered falsely.
Peter Jackson's vision is much different than mine. The movie is DARK, gothic and evil. Yikes! Black and grey hues are used extensively in the film...there are little dark corners everywhere. Orcs, goblins, slimy creatures, ringwraiths, cave trolls, balrog and who knows what else pop up all the time. Oh, yes, they are all in the book, but compress them all into a 3 hour movie and it seems like everything in Middle Earth crawls with evil. And what's up with Isengard? It looked like Saruman had modelled his new underground digs after Indiana Jone's Temple of Doom. And perhaps I need to read the book more closely because I have NO idea Isengard was black inside and out. It looked positively evil, even though Saruman was good at one time.
And finally, the last battle scene was botched and I don't know why PJ changed the plot. Frodo "escapes" without his companions' knowledge, but in the movie, Aragorn, Pippin and Merry tell him and watch him leave. That really bothered me...I guess because I don't see how this change enhanced anything.
Phew, ok, I had to get some of my expectations out of the way. I'll have to see the movie again, now that I know what to expect. It's pure wonderful cinema. It looks like it cost a fortune...the amount of detail given to some of the scenes is astounding. FX are almost always transparent (though I thought Boromir's boat going over the rapids looked fake) and they rarely made you take notice of them. What was computer generated and what was a real set is very difficult to discern. LOTR:FOTR is an emotional film - more than any Star Wars film could ever dream of - though I wish it wasn't often so bleek. I think the screaming sounds from the ringwraiths was sheer terror incarnate and probably appropriate. But I tired of the close-up shots of oozing orcs or whatever they threw up on the screen.
Gandalf was GREAT. Almost 100% perfect translation from the book. Saruman was pretty damn good as well. Legolas and Gimli were weak (where was the development of their friendship???), Elrond was indeed an agent, Aragorn was mostly positive and the same could be said about Boromir. Merry and Pippin were baggage (not too far from the truth), Frodo and Sam....well, I haven't made up my mind yet. I wish Wood would show more emotions that just the puppy-dog-ready-to-cry look. The intro Sauron sequence was great...I LOVED watching his incredible power.
OK, the first review is always the worst one if you are a fan of the book. Let's see how well this wine ages in its second viewing...