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I have heard a lot of differeing opinions about how accessible the 'The Fellowship of the Ring' movie is to those who have not read the books.

As I said in my review, from what I could tell I think it was only little things that seemed to be a problem. But of course, it is a little difficult for me to judge.

Well, I'm interested to see what others think- both from those who have and haven;t read the book.

Those who have read the book, do you think they did a good job of making it understandable to those who haver not read it?

And those who haven't read it, what parts did you not understand? (And I am sure that people like myself and Mah will be only too happy to fill in any gaps for you, based on what we know from the books)

I havn't read it. And I plan to see the movie soon. So I'll let you know, Ush.

i seen the movie three times and loved it i plan on buying the boxset of books which include hobbit and all three lord of rings books . i loved he movie so much im reading the first one to get more into the movie and reading the second and third to find out what happens next i can wait

Don't try to retain too much information at once. You'll short circuit your terminator brain.

Well, I guiess that is one up for the 'you don't need to read the books side of the argument.

my brain quit functioning properly years ago

I'd agree with that. All you can talk about is molesting small children! I know your just kidding, but ick!

From my memory of the film, which was on the day of release, I'm sure that there wasnt anything that requires prior knowledge of the Hobbit.

But I'm very interested in what people didnt understand.

Actually I MIGHT have read the books when I was a kid..I'm not sure though..and I know for a fact that I don't know too much about the LOTR world... None the less I didn't have any problems with understanding what was going on in the film..that tells me that they did a good job introducing it..because they explained the making of the rings at the begginning of the film and then they ran with it.. Some people might wonder what adventures Bilbo had with the ring but I don't think it's a flaw..I think it actually makes people want to go back to the book and learn more of Bilbo's and Gandolfs story..

Oh so fans thought that movie goers wouldnt understand how Bilbo got the ring and how he knows Gandalf.

If they did add the stories about Gollum and Bilbo, it would make the movie extremly long.

I think that they should have had an interval half way so you could stretch off and give your bum some air

Yeah..it was rather long *rubs bum*

They did explain Gollum and Bilbo just a bit..a very little bit..but it was enough IMO.

I've read the book and I saw the movie yesterday and I was surprised how bad the movie really was. The acting, aside from McGlellan and Lee was laughable and I fail to see what the big deal is about this movie. I kept looking at my watch waiting for the 3 hours to be up. People who say they want Star Wars to be more like LOTR, well, lets just say I hope SW does nothing to be like LOTR. Nothing about the movie appealed to me and Elijah Wood was terrible, IMHO.

The only thing one needs to know from the Hobbit is that Bilbo obtained it from his quests and he killed the dragon (which he says in LOTR). So the movie is very accessible for those who haven't read the books.

Yes, I have read them. One thing I did miss about the movie is when the ship Boromir over the waterfall, Aragorn and Legolas don't do their prayer/song.

hmmm when I saw the movie here there was a break...

LOTR was a great book...
And I read it as a kid.....I would have to give the movie a B grade after what I saw....but then again it is difficult to achieve any grade higher than that in my book...

WAIT A MINUTE !!!!!! was that an insult tomacco ?

boy, you are fast ...

Yes...very good, but what good does that do us if we can't actually here their song? I really enjoyed it.

break like in 'we had a pause' like in: 'the lights went back on and we had to wait 15 minutes'

THE MOVIE RULED
i never cared much for the books (read the hobbit thought it sucked still think it's because of bad trans) tho
after the preview I was die-ing to see the movie
now the movie rulez it wasn't hard to follow
was very moving and I'm reading the paperback english version now, will get a good solid english version soon

Sorry to bring this up. I saw the FOTR shortly after reading the book (2000-1).

I remember the reaction of some of the movie goers who have not read the book was "Huh? Is that it?" when it was finished. They didn't seem to understand that it was the frst part of the trilogy.

I think that the movie worked well by itself without any prior knowledge of the book. I have read the book and found that it added to my understanding and appreciation of the movie.

I had read part of the Hobbit a few year before and it was good to see Gandalf!!

I didn't read the books first on purpose, because I wouldn't like the movies as much as I do now then. I understood the FOTR and TTT very well. When I read the books, I understood it even better, but that was more just background information.
I wanted to wait reading the third book too, but I couldn't resist, so RotK will be the first movie I see having read the book already....

The movie is perfectly understandable for anyone who didn't read the book and it is a good introduction to Tolkien's world for someone more curious. Of course that the LOTR movie leaves many doubts to that one's who have his first contact with Tolkien by this movie...So buy and read Tolkien's bibliography.

the LOTR books are a simple romance book compared with the complete world of Tolkien and most accessible as a movie than other parts of Middle-Earth story.

hmmm, i think it's different for different ppl.
my brother never read the book and he seems to think that the second movie sucks bacause of the three sub story lines in one story. try to explain to him that it's better this way and would build up to a climax in the third movie, but it doesn't change his opinion.
i think it's hard for some of those who haven't read the book to see the movie as only a part of a bigger story, when in each one there would be like a slow start that would built up into a climax ( the fight scene in moria and the battle at helm's deep ) then slow down again as if to an ending.
i still think peter jackson did a good job in translating it into the movie, it's very hard to put every details from the book into the movie form when he have to keep to a time limit and make sure that each movie stand out on it's own.

I think they made FOTR and TTT very accessible for ppl who didn't read the books, the editing out of Tom Bom... is a nice example.
PJ did a great job on both movies. Tho I would have liked to see the book ending of TTT in the movie

would have been a huge cliff hanger

I think if you see the movie without reading the book you will
understand the basic story but there is so much more than that that is not included in the movie that could really help you enjoy the story better.