Obviously we know the story right? Wrong, this is PJ's version, and as many of you know things were left out. Left out here is Tom Bombadil, the Barrow Downs, Bill Ferny, The Crickhollow Scenes, Lothlorien; these are the most obvious. But rest assured the story flowed so well from the beginning at Hobbiton to Weathertop, that I honestly forgot about the Barrow-wright scene. Really, the rest I knew were missing, but were not missed, the story was fast paced and very well thought out.

So how do the Hobbits get their swords if they don't go through the Barrow Downs? Aragorn supplies them. (oh! I can see the head!). But let's backtrack a bit, if any of you are worried about the portrayal of the nazgul in these films, rest assured these guys are going to be the scariest things since the Alien from Aliens. Remember that scene where the captain is in the vent shaft and he has that flashlight, and he's climbing down, and he turns one way, and when he turns back BAM!! There's the alien? Think of the scare factor there, and you'll have your Nazgul. The silent deadly enemy. Ooh baby, they rock.

Like I was told, and now as I read for myself the story moves along fairly quickly, yet you do not feel like your being pushed. The hobbit's make their way in and out of Bree, with a Nazgul attack right in their very rooms. They make their way to Weathertop; this scene is basically exactly the same as the books. Frodo makes his diving stab and gets the Nazgul blade in the shoulder. We then move quickly to the stone trolls and the first meeting of Arwen. And yes, she takes Glorfindel's role here. But Glorfindel is not axed from this script. The standoff at the Ford remains intact, in all its glory.

The encounter with Saruman is in this plot as well, though in the present and not as a story told by Gandalf in the council. It uses some neat elements that I liked very much, and the scene was extended if you can believe it, which made it all the better.

The scene at the Council of Elrond is, if I may, written exactly in the style that I said it should be in my rants. Less exposition, more decision making and action. And we do not skip a beat here folks. Everything is discovered and the fellowship is hammered out. Their objective, help Frodo take the ring to mount doom and destroy it.

One thing I did not like about this scene was the omission of Boromirs story of his dream and his trip from Rohan. It was missed from this scene, and was not replaced.

Some new elements to the Arwen/Aragorn relationship here remember those pics from the official site? The one with Arwen and Aragorn on the bridge? I know exactly what scene it is from. The scenes between these two are wonderful and romantic. Picture Arwen, the immortal Elf, in love with a Man, who does not want to give his love, because he doesn't want Arwen watch him grow old and die. I seriously felt the angst and anger here that comes from the Highlander, you know the scene, where McCloud is in the highlands, and he's with his woman, who he watches grow old and die. And that great Queen song is playing...let me tell you, this is certainly no hell bent for leather warrior princess. This is an anciently old woman, with feelings of love and caring of that type of first love that you can never truly find again. Like they say, you never love anyone as much as the first one. I feel that from Arwen, she truly is in love for the first time.

The trip to Moria is exactly as written, with the Fellowship taking the trip up the mountains first, here again we see more Saruman where we have not seen before. Moria is fairly intact, with everything where it is supposed to be, and yes the Balrog scene will leave your jaw on the sticky cinema floor. When I read it I could not get the immense size of the thing out of my head, it was an amazing piece of cinema literature and it will certainly be a keynote scene, look for it on the trailers, I can guarantee it!

Out of Moria, and the sense of loss here is incredible, with some great writing, and hopefully acting. If this scene remains the same then we are seriously going to see some great introspective moments here.

With the new 3 scripts, thankfully Lothlorien is added here. But when PJ wrote the 2 scripts he skipped them. How did he do this? Well, the Fellowship quickly hewed out some canoes out of tree stumps. And were sailing the Anduin by the next day.

Here is where we see more of Gollum, where at the beginning of the film we see 'teasing glimpses' and the same in Moria. We see more this time, Frodo tells Sam that he has known about Gollum following, and has heard his footsteps in Moria. That night, on the sandy beach, Gollum attacks Frodo in his sleep; the ring is ripped from his neck, but lands on the beach, where Boromir gets his first look at it. What is in his heart? We see the first good foreshadowing of his treachery. Gollum gets a good arrow through the hand thanks to Legolas and takes off.

The scenes where Boromir attacks Frodo, and the Orc raid, with Frodo and Sam taking off and the breaking of the fellowship is flawless. The sense of urgency and the timing of the action are perfect. Boromir again redeems himself in the end, and of course dies in the consequence. His funeral pyre is much to brief in my opinion, but I guess they couldn't stand around much with the Hobbits all scattered. I'm hoping for a more drawn out funeral scene in the new scripts.

This is of course where the story splits, with the Frodo and Sam storyline, which remains fairly 99% accurate with the books. And the rest of the party. That of course has changed a bit.

The Merry and Pippin adventure with the Orcs remains constant. And their escape and venture into Fangorn forest is there as well. As well as my favorite characters the Ents. Their introduction into this scene is nothing short of brilliant. And I cannot wait to see this Army of angry Ents rage across the hills.

I'm not going to give away too much of the rest suffice it to say that storyline wise, it's fairly accurate and to the point. Where things are moved and changed around are for the better. And are very minimal.

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