[SamAdams76]

I'm not too happy with the movies. It seems like the battle scenes take way too much precedence while much of the story itself falls to the cutting room floor. Books are much better.

There are some movie adaptations that are excellent. Case in point is "Shawshank Redemption" which was taken from an obscure Steve King short story.

[Resettozero]

I'm not too happy with the movies. It seems like the battle scenes take way too much precedence...

I thought the same thing while reading the hugely-thick trilogy in 1966. Had to be a side effect of WWII going on when he was writing it. Peter Jackson's reasoning for so much war-footage in the movies is not clear to me.

[jimt]

I'm not too happy with the movies. It seems like the battle scenes take way too much precedence while much of the story itself falls to the cutting room floor. Books are much better.

Couldn't agree more, but I love the books. You're right about the battle scenes, but the absolute worst parts were the 180 degree perversions of the characters of Galadriel and Faramir.

It kinda goes along with Heinlein's rule ("nobody likes the soup 'til they pee in it") so I suppose we're supposed to swoon at the marvellous job the director did (blech) as opposed to the way he butchered the story.