Fans Fret About 'Lord of the Rings'

By Jeanne Darst

Tuesday December 18, 2001 12:16 PM EST

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Millions of J.R.R. Tolkien fans around the world are elated at the arrival of the first installment of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen and Liv Tyler, but many are concerned after seeing previews showing scenes not in the book, reports the Associated Press. Fans in Internet chat rooms, such as Tolkienonline.com, have skewered those changes. Among their accusations are charges that director Peter Jackson has commercialized the story. Jackson said some changes were necessary. "I felt all the way through that I had the responsibility to make a good movie, first and foremost, and a responsibility to be a Tolkien interpreter second," the director told the AP. "I thought it would really destroy us if the film attained a reputation of, 'Oh, don't bother seeing it, just read the book.' I thought that would be an absolute disaster. I've made it my mission to inspire you to go out and read the book." If fans are less than thrilled about the first film adaptation, they can at least look forward to the "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" sequels, "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King," set to be released in December 2002 and 2003, respectively.