Phenomenal book turned into phenomenal movie (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (DVD))

Member Name: bruffyboy

Product:	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (DVD)
Date:	25/01/09 (32 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great location

Disadvantages: None

THE PREMISE:
First off, I am a huge fan of Tolkien, and have read a lot of his work, so I came to this film with a degree of apprehension as well as excitement. 'The Fellowship of the Ring' is the first part of 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy of books. The most read fiction work ever, LOTR is a fantasy that is so deep and detailed that it feels real. Tolkien spent years and years writing it, and so any film version needed to be a serious undertaking: Peter Jackson rose to the challenge.

THE STORY:
The film begins in Hobbiton, home of Frodo, Bilbo, Sam, Merry and Pippin the Hobbits. Just like in the book, a fair amount of time is spent showing the natural simplicity of Hobbit life. Whilst this is important, in that it shows us just what is at risk of being lost, it does drag on a bit. Things eventually heat up with the discovery of the One Ring, a magical ring that the evil lord Sauron is hunting down to regain the supreme power he once had. Frodo sets off on a long and dangerous journey to destroy the ring. He is accompanied by three other Hobbits, but is soon joined by a whole host of races - Elf, man, dwarf and wizard accompany him in his journey. Together, their travels bring them into dangerous territories that they must successfully battle through in order to survive. In this movie, the first of three, the journey takes them to Rivendell, the beautiful home of the Elves. From there it's onto the deep dark mines of Moria, where Orcs and a Balrog are set to make things tough, and finally there's a meeting with Galadriel before the film's close.

WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT IT:
1) The location is beautiful - set in New Zealand, the film is visually stunning. From snow peaked mountains to lush green valleys, it's a marvel to look at.
2) The CGI - cutting edge computer animation is fused with the aforementioned location to produce some wonderful scenes like nothing seen before or since.
3) The story - largely faithful to Tolkien's original, the story is a masterpiece on every level, with just the right mix of action, adventure, and even fun along the way.
4) The acting - a largely unknown cast do a stellar job with every role well acted, and some amazing.

At 178 minutes in length, this is a long film, but it's entirely captivating. I remember watching it in the cinema and being so gutted it was another year to wait for part 2.

IF YOU LIKED IT: You will have to watch the following two movies 'The Two Towers' and 'The Return of the King'. The Chronicles of Narnia series is a much lower quality stab at a similar genre, and seems to satisfy many (but not me).

Summary: watch it