People who thought the movie stunk!

I saw the movie on Opening Night. I'd say 80% of the packed theater were Tolkien fans. When the movie ended, the crowd emptied in a hush. Almost everybody was saying positive things about the movie. This was the first time I EVER saw a film on opening night. I loved the film and I have been reading and re-reading Tolkien for over 20 years now. I was a little disappointed about a number of issues (listed in another post) but when you take film-making issues into perspective you appreciate it more:<BR>1. The film needed to be true to the book, a classic - I think it was pretty close<BR>2. The film needed a huge budget for the scenery and effects - I think most agree the scenes were pretty true to the book<BR>3. The film needed to make money - I think it will. Each day a 3 hour movie makes only 1/2 the $$ day than a 1.5 hour movie makes. The film could never have gone beyond 3 hours and anything less would have been horrible. <P>As for character development, there really is not much in FOTR other than Frodo's changes and that of Gimli regarding the Elves. I thought Frodo changed remarkably over the course of the film. He transformed from a happy-go-lucky, child-like innocent into a solemn, depressed adult - just like in the book. Character development really takes off in The Two Towers so hopefully we will see it there.<P>Finally, with a fanatic following such as this, there will always be critics. The movie was never really made before as producers thought it was an impossible task. PJ and his crew made LOTR come to life. He deserves credit for meeting us much more than halfway.