Luckily, when I was in high school and reading the books, the movies had not yet been released. But let me tell you, while not completely faithful to the source material, the LOTR movies are close enough that most fans I know were able to forgive the differences.
Peter Jackson did a wonderful job of taking us to another world, undertaking a DAUNTING task (seriously, read the books. The are DENSE, very difficult to adapt into a screenplay) and achieving something that is not only a worthy film adaptation, but also great as a series of stand-alone films. Such achievements are rare in the film industry, where the films are as good as the books. Read: "as good as" does not equal "the same". 
If you want to expand your lexicon and literary sense, definitely read the books! The movies will suffice if you don't have that kind of time, though. 
zod5000 wrote:
Eugenides wrote:A+.
Would read again.
REALMAN_PERSON wrote:Best thread yet. Kudo to you sir.
Dont waste peoples time with sarcastic, low content posts.
Thanks!
As for the topic, I like the movies (except for when Frodo cries), but they are just too long!
It actually wasn't me saying I disliked the thread (I'm a huge LOTR fan, actually), it's just that this was in the UC3 Beta section before it was (clearly) moved. I thought it was a troll thread, hence my joking reply.
Treasure_Bearer wrote:Fantastic book-to-film adaptations, and the extended editions put back even more wonderful material.
Looking forward to The Hobbit, next.
Wish they'd have Jackson do the Dune books...
Yeah, there have been a couple of BAD Dune adaptations thus far. Nothing that really brings the feel of the books to life though.
