Others have mentioned how much better than the first one this is, and it's true, but then they didn't have THAT far to go in my opinion. The first was sort of campy and slow, but it got me to read the books. The second movie was filmed so much better, the acting was better, the movie flowed... the things from the book that were omitted didn't cause the viewer to really miss anything. There are a few details you pick up in spots like that, but it wasn't so much that you were missing whole pieces of "why". It really was worth getting there at six, watching the original, and then staying to watch the new one. Well worth it.