Yippee! We were going to see The Fellowship of the Ring today (in fact, it would be starting right about now), but AMC had 3 screens with midnight showings, so we went last night. One employee guessed there were 1200 people there. Awesome.

Here's my first review:

I'm a Tolkien purist, as you know, so there are a lot of things I could pick out that I didn't like as well as the original. But I'm going to wait on those things, at least for a while. I'll start by talking about some of the many things Peter Jackson did well (this requires discipline for me. I naturally go to criticism. But I think this is worth it. I want to enjoy it for what it is.)

Note: no spoilers.

First of all, let me just say, if you have thought about reading the book before you see the movie, or have even started it, you should finish it first. The movie is different enough from the book that I, for one, would certainly want you to be exposed to Tolkien's original first.

Second, I'm certainly planning on seeing it again. It was very good and there's so much to see and take in. The vistas and action scenes, especially, demand repeated viewing. Christine expressed it well: We wished we could stop and look around more, but we had to move faster than that. Guess that's what the DVD is for.

There is a lot of really good acting. Ian McKellan (Gandalf), Hugo Weaving (Elrond), Ian Holm (Bilbo), and Sean Bean (Boromir) stand out to me as nearly flawless. Elijah Wood does a credible job, and maybe even better, as the protagonist, Frodo. Christopher Lee (Saruman) had really great moments (and probably acted his direction exceptionally).

Peter Jackson can obviously do great effects. The lidless eye and the world seen by the wearer of the ring were very well done.

The action scenes were awesome, with Legolas coming off as the coolest by far.

More:

If you care to check it out, the Salon review calls it 'the movie of the year' (warning: infernal pop-up ads).

Secondarily: a lot of the previews really sucked. However, Tom Cruise's 'Minority Report' looked cool, and the 'Spider Man' preview was thrilling and sold me.