Lord of the Rings (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (DVD))

Member Name: Michelle-K

Product:	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (DVD)
Date:	24/02/02 (12 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fantastic scenary, Great effects, Well acted

Disadvantages: Lots of the story missing, Only the beginning..., Very long

I must confess, I have avoided Lord of the Rings for years.... Ever since I started reading the Hobbit when I was 8 (and gave up because I was scared of the spiders) I've been curious about it, but have never really felt the need to read it. All my friends talked about Lord of the Rings a LOT and I never felt the need to join in. Until now...

Watching the film before I read the book was perhaps the wrong way of doing things, but maybe it made me enjoy it more. The first time I saw the film, I knew nothing and had no pre-conceived ideas. I enjoyed it for the action packed, roller-coaster ride of an adventure film that it really is. And I loved every minute.

Then I got curious - I wondered what happened next. I mean, what a way to end a film.... How many other films end before the story does? It frustrated me, so I bought the books.

That's where my opinion changes......

I never realised before how much was removed and changed. Much is lost of the history and personalities of the characters, not to mention a large chunk of the story. I can only wonder what will be left of the other books.

In it's defence, I can see that something had to be lost to cut down the time taken by the film, and to keep the interest of it's audience. In all, I still enjoyed the film the second time round - and none of the magic was lost. I think you just have to enjoy the story and take the books and film as separate entities, but just as enjoyable as each other in their own special ways.

Summary: