The problem with the Fellowship of the Ring

Looking at it from a film maker's point of view, FotR is drastically differant from the other two books. Why? Well basically, it doesn't feature the major battles that we see in the other two. Obviously, these can be a major draw to the uninitiated, but they may never go to the TT and RotK if they judge the FotR to be too lame. Of course, the yarn has its fair share of action, but maybe not enough to satisfy the Gladiator junkies out there.

This is why PJ is putting in the last alliance bit I believe. He can show off his MASSIVE and give us a taste of the great battles to come.

I agree.

I think for the uninitiated, Fellowship will have a similar effect as TPM if it isn't done right. As in, non-fans won't like it because you only see what is actually just the beginning, and not a full middle or end. That's exactly why I see LOTR not as three separate novels but the way it was intended to be seen - one novel in six books that just happens to be published in three volumes.

Well, there is action in FotR. No battles, but there are terrifying chases by the Black Riders, and then of course there is the magnificent duel between Gandalf and the Balrog. There's also the ambush by Orcs on the Anduin, the fight in the Chamber of Mazarbul, the encounter with the Wargs, the Watcher in the Water, etc. No epic battles in there, certainly, but it's not action-free either.

Indeed! I like FotR in part because the action is, well, not more subtle, but it is more human in the conflicts. Certainly big battle scenes make for good action, but there is a certain amount of dehumanizing inherent in battle, even fantasy battles like in these books. Even if one does not recognize it with the head, I think that it is grasped by the gut and to be truthful, I think that most people do tend to think with the gut. As such, I think that FotR will probably translate pretty well. And some of the scenes, such as the flight to the ford and the battle with the balrog are just awesome! And with them, the scene won't be cluttered up with a lot of unrelated battlefield action, so the focus can go where it belongs-on the specific conflict in question for the scene.