i think they tried to condense the whole huge series of books into one film, when it should have been an epic series like lord of the rings...when you do what they did with this movie, you're left going "what the heck?" every scene....no foundation no real plot, but really good acting and scenery make up for a lot....just wish there was at least 3 movies planned instead of this one, that really doesn't give the depth and background you need to know to understand 90% of it