It's been suggested that this film is not in keeping with the "spirit" of Tolkien's book in that it stresses the "action-adventure" elements at the expense of everything else. However, I'm not sure that this is fair. For one thing, a great deal of time is devoted in the book to walking, running, chasing, none of which translate very well to anything that would be of cinematic interest. For another, nothing really happens to Frodo and Sam in the book outside of their encounter with Faramir (and nothing really happens to Pippin and Merry outside of their meeting the Ents; the rest of the time is spent waiting for the Ents to finish their meeting). So, all that aside, the heart of the book is the fight between the orcs and the Rohirrim toward the beginning, the destruction of Isengard by the Ents, and the battle at Helm's Deep, which is also what the film focuses on (and speaking of battles, just wait for The Return of the King). Therefore, it seems to me that the film translates the book just fine, particularly considering the difficulties in maintaining three simultaneous threads. I thought it was just great, and am looking forward to the DVD. --Db
I liked the second movie as much as the first, if not more. I have never read the books so I cannot say how it deviates. However, the movie was very solid and I give it my highest ratings. Gollum was one hell of a good CG character.