The reasons for this are numerous. The Lord of the Rings movies were a surprise to audiences when they came out: far-reaching, well-thought-out adaptations with a great production value and a dedicated, talented cast. And yet, they were also made by a fan, and fans alike recognized the care put into bringing a trilogy many had said was too complicated to life. Visually, the movies spared no expense, leaving fans feeling like they’d stepped into Middle-Earth, but more importantly, the movies kept a lot of the backstory, the characters, and even some of the songs from the book. The movies just weren’t an abridged version of Lord of the Rings; they were long, complicated, and yet also much easier to understand than the books.
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