Like many people of my generation I read Lord of the Rings 3 times before I turned 20. All of the other Tolkein too, thanks to a girlfriend who was a devotee. I wasn't expecting a lot when the movie trilogy came out - I remembered the Ralph Bakshi debacle too well. Large parts of Jackson's movies were enjoyable, but I recall my reaction at the very beginning of the first installment was "Oh no, it's going to be slow." And not slow in a good way, the kind that might take time to cram in more of the details in the books. It was slow in the ponderous sense. I thought that voiceover at the very start set a tone that was just wrong, overall a tad too reverential for my liking. Oh well. I've seen the first 15 minutes of The Hobbit, and I think you're right, GT, it's better.