To Rule Them All (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (DVD))

Member Name: MykReeve

Product:	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (DVD)
Date:	20/12/01 (706 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Superb casting, Stunningly beautiful locations, Compelling and immersive

Disadvantages: Too intense for three hours, but I was really scraping to come up with that, you know

I've become so cynical about movies nowadays, it's shocking. It really is. At one time, I used to get excited about new releases, but my fingers have been burnt too many times, and even when I feel I should get excited about a new Hollywood release now, I find it hard to actually do so.

In its favour, the hype for the Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies has been relatively minor, mainly due to director Peter Jackson's determination that the public shouldn't be exposed to a six-month media circus leading up to the film's release. In the event the release of the Harry Potter movie probably did a great deal to deflect the media's attention for much of the run-up to the 'Lord of the Rings' release... even if it did lead to the inevitable endless series of comparisons between the two.

So, I can't say I was overly excited about going to see the first Lord of the Rings film, but even in my jaundiced state, I managed to muster some degree of enthusiasm, and a fervent hope that what little faith I had left in film-making wouldn't be killed off. In the event, I needn't have been so pessimistic, the Lord of the Rings movie is truly astonishing. I finally felt that buzz of excitement that 1977 audiences must have felt when they went to see 'Star Wars'. The spectacular scenery, the characters, the pace, the special effects all kept my attention for the full three hours, and genuinely left me feeling exhilarated.

Just to give you an idea of my Tolkein Quotient, I've never read the book, but I have heard the BBC radio dramatisation, so I at least had a vague idea of the plot before going to see it... and I did read 'The Hobbit' a few years back which has to be worth partial credit...

THE PLOT

Oh, you must know this, surely. Alright then, but I'm going to keep it brief. Hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) is celebrating his 111th birthday in the small village of Hobbiton in
the Shire. Wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen), arrives for the celebration and to ensure that Bilbo makes good on his promise to pass all of his possessions on to young Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood).

Amongst these possessions is a ring... but no ordinary ring... this is the One Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron - a ring with the power to destroy the world, and a ring which slowly perverts its owner. As long as the ring remains in existence, the Dark Lord has the power to return to the world, and a team of nine dark riders - the Nazgul - are trying to return the ring to him.

So, Frodo sets off on a perilous quest to destroy the ring by tossing it into the Cracks of Doom in faraway Mordor, accompanied by three other hobbits (Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin), Meriadoc Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan) and Peregrin Took (Billy Boyd)). En route, the hobbits are joined by Gandalf, humans Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and Boromir (Sean Bean), the elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and the dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies).

THE FILM

Well, as you might have gathered from my introduction, I was genuinely bowled over by 'The Fellowship of the Ring'. This was a genuinely stunning film. In fact, I'm at a loss to know where to start in my review, because I don't this opinion just to consist of a list of reasons why the film was so fantastic...

So, I guess I'd better start with the only thing I found to complain about - the pacing. To be honest, this isn't really a negative criticism, so much as a problem with the intensity of the film. Watching 'The Fellowship of the Ring' takes a lot out of the viewer - there's a lot of plot to cover in the book, even for a three-hour-long film, and inevitably this means that the story moves at an extremely fast pace. Essentially, there's no break in the action for the full length of the movie, so make sure you've gone to the toilet before you go in - if you have to go during the mo
vie, you'll probably miss an important plot point!

But, it has to be said, paying that much attention to a movie for a full three hours takes a lot out of the viewer. When the DVD is eventually released, I'll probably watch it with a self-imposed intermission about 90 minutes in. Of course, the cynic in me says that the film was deliberately released in such an intense intermission-less format on its theatrical release to make viewers go back to the cinema to see it again, and make sure they've not missed anything... but quite apart from this, this is a film you'll want to see again at the cinema anyway!

So, having got that out of the way, I'm afraid we're just left with the glowing praise. First recipient has to be the stunning scenery throughout the film. From the rolling hills of the Shire, through the craggy Misty Mountains, via the woods of Lorien and the rocky plains of Mordor, New Zealand has provided an outstanding range of stunningly beautiful geography, which has been filmed to superb effect by native director Peter Jackson. Where computer effects have had to be used to insert giant statues, or buildings, they have been introduced seamlessly to create an astonishingly believable series of locations.

Yes, the locations might not be quite as you imagined them, but in my case, it's generally because my imagination didn't quite go as far as the film-makers' in creating Tolkein's fantasy world. In my imagination, Saruman's tower didn't tower so high over Isengard, Rivendell wasn't so beautiful, and Galadriel's Lothlorien wasn't so elegant. Admittedly the film collects only a few people's impressions of what the book's locations should look like, and inevitably this will jar with some viewers' imaginations, but for me, the film presents an entirely believable fantasy world creating plausible visions of locations which manage to evoke the spirit of the story.
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br><br><br>Where the film has had illustrations by Tolkein to work from, such as the sketches of Bilbo's home - Bag End - in Hobbiton, it has stuck to them slavishly, producing an accurate and impressive realisation of the sketches, right down to the chandeliers! This brings me onto my next point... hobbits. They're little people, don't you know. The humans in the film are normal height humans, and the film's elves are human height too... but, the dwarves and the hobbits are considerably shorter - about two thirds the height of the men and elves. This isn't exactly crucial to the plot, but for the film to accurately portray one of the world's favourite fantasy worlds, the dwarves and hobbits have to look shorter.

So, how do the filmmakers achieve this? Well, rumours abounded during the film's production that it would involve an intense amount of post-production computer generated tinkering, but in actuality far more old-school techniques seem to have been used. At the beginning of the film, I found myself searching for them, and noticed occasional clever use of perspective - such as an early scene where Bilbo and Gandalf talk in the kitchen of Bag End; Bilbo stands far from the camera, while Gandalf sits near the camera.

However, I've got to be honest, once you've mentally accepted that dwarves and hobbits are shorter than humans, the whole magic of the film is enough to draw you in, and forget that you're watching human actors portraying fantastic characters. For me, it only took about ten minutes before I stopped trying to see how scenes were constructed, and started to just relax and enjoy it. I think this is testament to two of the film's strengths - firstly, the presentation is so immersive and compelling that you actually find yourself drawn into it, and secondly, the special effects and computer generated scenes are so well realised that they never seem artificial.

Now onto the casti
ng. There's an interesting mix of top-flight, first-rate actors here acting alongside several "Now where have I seen them before?"s. In general though, it's got to be said that the casting is superb. Ian McKellen's Gandalf the Grey is extremely good... and probably the most difficult of the film's roles to cast. McKellen pulls off the imperious gravel voice that he attaches to Gandalf with consummate ease, soon making you wonder how you ever imagined the character any other way. He believably mixes the character's occasional bumbling charm with the seriousness that the role demands.

Similarly, bug-eyed Elijah Wood never struck me as an obvious choice for the role of Frodo, but manages to produce a believable performance as the awestruck hobbit forced to undertake the perilous quest. Ian Holm manages to convey Bilbo's lust for Sauron's ring believably, and manages to bring the lovable hobbit to the big screen very well.

The film's human characters; Aragorn and Boromir are well realised by Viggo Mortensen (um... 'A Perfect Murder' or 'G. I. Jane' anyone?) and Sean Bean (probably best known as television's Sharpe) respectively. However, for my money, the casting of the elves probably represents some of the movie's best casting decisions. Cate Blanchett ('The Gift', 'Elizabeth') plays the beautiful Galadriel, Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith in 'The Matrix') plays the severe Elven king Elrond, and young Orlando Bloom (was in one episode of 'Midsomer Murders') makes an extremely good Legolas Greenleaf. Most intriguingly, bulky Jonathan Rhys-Davies (Sallah from 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' and 'Raiders of the Lost Ark') is shrunk down to play Gimli the dwarf.

Peter Jackson's direction is extremely good. The relentless pacing and his incredible vision keep the film fairly motoring and work to really involve the audience in his mo
vie. The action sequences, such as the fellowship's battle with orcs in a dwarven mine, aren't as jawdropping as many recent movie battle sequences. However, the huge opening prologue battle between Sauron's forces and an army of elves and men gives an impression of the true potential of the series... and, of course, 'The Two Towers' is full of big battles!

The music is sumptuous, and while not as instantly memorable as recent films' themes (yes, that's right, I'm referring to 'Gladiator'), fits extremely well with the film's mood. I was also glad to note that the Enya track was confined to the film's end credits.

CONCLUSIONS

I don't think I've ever been so struck by the presentation of a movie as I was by 'The Lord of the Rings', and I don't think I've ever been so stuck for something negative to say about a film that I've been reduced to criticising it for being "too intense"! Admittedly, although I've always been aware of the story, I've never been a major fan of 'Lord of the Rings', so I didn't have the same preconceptions about the locations that many Tolkein enthusiasts had... and consequently, the film's realisation of the places and characters were never going to be an affront to my imaginings.

Even if you go along to 'Lord of the Rings' with the highest of expectations, I'd be surprised if you were unimpressed - it is truly a masterpiece of visualisation, and an extremely promising start to the trilogy. Mr Jackson, we salute you... and nary a Sumatran rat monkey in sight...

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