I saw the Fellowship of the Ring yesterday and it was sooooooo awesome! The casting, costumes, sets all exceeded my expecations. The black riders are so much scarier that even my imagination. I think the sound effects helped a lot with that. Speaking of fright--some scenes had me so scared I jumped a few feet out of my seat more than once.

I expected to be annoyed by the imposition of Arwen where she hadn't appeared in the book, but I thought her role actually worked fine. I would have preferred less time with Saruman and his orc contingent, mostly because they are so gross. I realize the director was trying to build tension about the imminence of war with these half-rotted skanky beasts, but please, these guys made me really nauseated.

Instead, it would have been nice to have some of the restful in-between scenes back. They don't add anything to the plot, but they keep you from becoming exhausted from all the intensity and stress.

Elijah Wood made an awesome Frodo, young and determined yet so vulnerable. The camera work and special effects that made the halflings appear so tiny and fragile were seamless and really added to the pathos of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin.

My favorite character was Legolas. He was so even keel, yet more alert than the others, faster in battle and amazing with a bow. Rohan was always my favorite realm in the books, but the film's depiction of Legolas gave me new appreciation for how cool elves are.