I must say that this is a great movie. The actors were amazing, and the movie itself looked beautiful. The story was a bit slow at first, but this was understandable, since the tone basically had to be established with this being a prequal. For die hard fans, you will easily notice a few changes made in the story. I could tell that Peter Jackson felt the need for some antagonist to help move this part of the story along, since the main enemy will not appear in the second film. I was a little upset with this new enemy, and how he contributed to the story. Nonetheless, Jackson also stayed true to much of Tolkien's original story. Overall, these few bumps in the road did not greatly affect this movie. As a die hard fan, it felt great to return to the world of Middle Earth once more, and I am really looking forward to the next two installments.