Lord of The Rings The Fellowship of the Ring Movie Versus Book (Spoilers for both!)

Both the first movie and the first book of the Lord of the Rings series and franchise have both received much acclaim, but which one is better? In this post, I'll be comparing the two in three categories, character development, exposition (Since they are the first), and visuals and writing quality respectively. There are spoilers so if you haven't watched the movie/read the book don't read this.

Character Development

The main characters of the story in the book are the four Hobbits, Merry, Pippin, Frodo, and Sam. Tolkien did a great job of developing them in the book. Merry and Pippin plan on helping and accompanying Frodo even when Frodo tries to keep his quest a secret from them and leave them behind. They are going to help their friend, no matter what. Sam has a similar development, albeit from the perspective of a servant and not really a friend (Though Frodo and Sam are of course friends.). The movie opted towards developing Aragorn's and Boromir's characters instead of the Hobbits. Merry and Pippin stumble onto Frodo completely by accident in his journey and get stuck with him and are used mostly for comedic relief throughout. Sam, however, still has his character development, albeit weakened by the fact that he was thrown into the quest. Boromir and Aragorn's character development is superb, making the climax much more satisfying. 

Exposition

In this one, the book is overwhelmingly better. The movie gets the essentials but fails to get in the details that the book did that made the original story so much richer. Sometimes it didn't even mention the character's names. If I remember correctly we don't know what Galadriel's name is until she mentions it in basically the last scene she was in. 

Visuals Writing Quality

Basically a tie here. The writing fro the Lord of the Rings is superb, and whoever did the special effects and set design for the movie did a fantastic job of making Tolkien's words more or less tangible. The Mines of Moria, the Shire, and Rivendell looks exactly like you would have imagined it. The Tower of Orthanc was also rendered awesomely, the tall gleaming black tower and the gardens surrounding it are exactly as Tolkien described. All in all, a great job for both of them.