My wife and I saw the film last night, and it was wonderful.
A lot of stuff in the book wasn't in the film, but I wonder how much if it was shot but cut. Maybe we'll see some of it in the extended edition next fall.
Some of the highlights:
- The battle of the Pelennor fields. Way too much to say about it; suffice to say it's perhaps the most brilliant hour and a half of film I've ever seen.
- The Army of the Dead. Very cool.
- Shelob. Freaky in a great way.
- Sam and Frodo. Extremely well acted.
I could gush on, but will resist. Words don't do this film justice.