It has been loyal insofar as the character's names are the same and occasionally including lines verbatim from the books (although sometimes in the wrong place)

It has been loyal insofar as the character's names are the same and occasionally including lines verbatim from the books (although sometimes in the wrong place). I don't actually know if them myriad of changes, small and large, made the films more accessible to someone who had never read the books, but calling the work "superbly loyal" is laughable - especially the Lord of the Rings "Extended Editions" which contain almost no material from the books whatsoever.