Yeah, I haven't read it for probably close to 20 years. Though as a teen, I read it several times, along with all the supplemental stuff I could get my hands on, and even wrote (very bad) poetry in Elvish. I was VERY excited about the Bakshi version, and very disappointed by its strange and abrupt ending. By comparison, this is much better, IMO. But I do understand the disappointment with messing with the story line. I fully expect the extended version of this to be much better, too, though of course it can't fix the alterations in major plot devices.