MAGICAL MAYHAM IN MIDDLE EARTH....... (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Extended Edition, DVD))

Member Name: broksababe

Product:	The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Extended Edition, DVD)
Date:	11/02/02 (634 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stunning scenery and effects, excellent actors,superb production

Disadvantages: Bit on the long side,rather too many fighting scenes

Now it may surprise you to learn that I was not actually over eager to go and see this film, it was only after my mother managed to persuade me to go with her that I decided to give it a go.


The Lord Of The Rings has been hailed as the best thing since sliced bread and once such a precedent is set, I often find that you are disappointed that the film does not match up to expectations, however on this occasion I was proved more than wrong.

Most people have read the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien, myself included many years ago, so you will all be no doubt familiar with most of the story, for those who are not here is the brief outline.

PLOT
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The ring as you may have guessed is the key story line, a ring that if by accident ends up in the wrong hands can cause devastation and chaos with its evil power within.

The ring has been separated from its evil master and creator Sauron and has found itself in the hands of Bilbo Baggins a hobbit (a small 3ft 6 creature, with big hairy feet).

Bilbo found the ring in a cave many years ago and has now had enough of it and decides to leave and pass the ring onto his young cousin Frodo.
Frodo learns of the rings true identity and his task ahead courtesy of Bilbo’s trusty old friend the wizard Gandalf.


Here the journey begins, Frodo must get the ring back to whence it came and toss it into the inferno at Mount Doom to destroy it before it plunges the whole of middle earth into eternal darkness.

The quest involves various others accompanying Frodo on his perilous journey and they become “The Fellowship Of The Ring”.

A journey that is riddles with danger at every corner and will lead them though, woodland, forest, caves and the mountains, closely followed at every step of the way by the evil servants of Sauron, this makes for very tense viewing.
Sauron will stop at nothing to get his precious ri
ng back, armies of hideous Orcs and Nazguls leap out at every opportunity, and will have you clinging to the edge of your seat. or biting your nails as you wonder who will survive this blatant evil.
And so the journey continues, a journey of magic, tragedy and hope…..


CHARACTERS OF THE FELLOWSHIP
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Frodo ( Elijah Wood)- Hobbit
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Frodo is Bilbo’s cousin, young shy and naïve, but soon to show true courage and devotion to his fate.
Elijah is a mere 20 years old and appeared in Deep Impact and Back to the future 2 amongst others.


Sam, Merry And Pippin (Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd.) – Hobbits
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The trio of Hobbits who join Frodo and friends in the fellowship, Sam being the close friend of Frodo and a very jovial one at that, Merry and Pippin add a lighter touch to the film, almost comical at times, then crucial later on as they realise the serious nature of what they are involved in.


Gandalf ( Ian McKellen) – Wizard
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Gandalf the Grey is a wizard, long time friend of Bilbo, he is a champion for good and will do all in his power to aid Frodo and the fellowship on their journey.

Ian is a veteran of stage and screen, having appeared in numerous films such as” X-Men “and “The Keep”, he is an excellent all rounder both on stage and screen.


Boromir (Sean Bean) – Human
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Boromir is a valiant warrior, loyal and dedicated but despite this struggles with his loyalty and is tempted to betray them in order to get his hands on the ring, however he comes good and gives us one of the more moving scenes..
Sean Bean needs no introduction a well-known household name with
appearances in “Essex Boys” and “Sharp”.


Legolas ( Orlando Bloom)- Elf
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Legolas was chosen to represent the fellowship because of his excellent skills in archery; he also is very perceptive towards danger, which makes him invaluable to the group bearing in mind the unspeakable dangers that lie ahead on their journey.

Orlando is a new name, this being his big break through, however I imagine somehow, he will go far, attractive and extremely talented, and he will have plenty of film offers in the future.


Aragorn (Viggo Mortesen) – Human
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Aragorn is a ranger patrolling the Middle Earth trying to enforce peace, extremely dedicated, heroic and a true warrior he often has to step in to save Frodo.

Viggo has a string of films behind him including “Indian Runner” and “ A walk On The Moon.”


Gimil (John Rhys-Davies)- Dwarf
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The aggressive member of the group and not afraid to fight, Gimil carries axes and weapons and is not afraid to use them, strong in courage and bold but reliable and faithful to the group.

John is yet another veteran both on stage and in film, he has an amazing 30 Royal Shakespeare performances under his belt and has appeared in many films including
“ The Untouchables “ and “ Raiders Of The Lost arc”.


OTHER CAST MEMBERS
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Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm)- Hobbit
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Bilbo is the wise aging hobbit that once found the ring many years ago; it is he that invokes the quest once he decides to leave and passes the ring onto Frodo.

Ian Holm, yet another Shakespearean actor, also famed for “Chariots Of Fire “and Frankenstein”.


Saruman (Christo
pher Lee)- Wizard
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Once a good wizard, Saruman has swapped sides and succumb to the evil forces of Sauron, dedicated to returning the ring to it’s master he creates grotesque and vicious fighting creatures to unleash on the Fellowship.

Christopher Lee, well no introductions needed here, the veteran horror star seen in such productions as “Dracula” and “Sleepy Hollow”.


Elrond (Hugo Weaving)- Elf
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Elrond is the father of Arwen , Wise powerful and knowing he calls the council of Elrond the determine the rings fate.

Hugo is best known for his recent role in the” Matrix”.


Arwen ( Liv Tyler ) – Elf
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Arwen is the elf princess, daughter of Elron, beautiful and also brave she aids Frodo,in love with the ranger Aragon, she must decide whether to stay an elf and have eternal life or be a mortal.

A well liked actress who has appeared in “Dr.T” and “ Armageddon”

Galandriel (Cate Blanchett) – Elf Queen
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Galandriel is the beautiful elf queen also believed to be a mighty sorceress, she lives in the magical city in the woods Lothlorian, and she gives much needed shelter to the fellowship.

Cate, another well-known face, best remembered for her role as Queen Elizabeth 1.


Those are the key characters in the film, however the nasty guys deserve a mention too, and nasty is putting it lightly!

RINGWRAITHS or NAZGUL
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Not the type of person you would want to meet on a dark night, there are 9 of these horse riding creatures, 9 to represent the 9 mortal kings that the evil Sauron destroyed, neither living nor dead these zombie like creatures sense when the ring is near, sort of like
a homing device, very scary indeed.

ORCS
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Even more grotesque, these creatures are hideously disfigured, again resembling something that has been dead a long long time, they come in varying forms in the looks department and are the foot soldiers of Saruman and Sauron.

LURTZ
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Created by the evil Saruman this is the ultimate fighting monster, huge repulsive and very scary looking indeed, it is purely created to fight and kill in order to get the ring.

GOLLUM
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Not as scary but very weird non the less, Golum lived in the caves and once had the ring himself, this mutated him into the form he is now, not evil or threatening, he just follows the fellowship and generally runs up and down cave walls on all fours.


PERFORMANCE
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Bearing in mind the excellent cast list you have just read, you will then know that it has to be excellent performance wise, and indeed it is, there are no weak and feeble characters who require carrying by others, each is superb and fits in with the rest like a hand in a glove.

The strongest memorable performances for me were, Frodo, Gandalf and Saruman,
Elijah (Frodo) has so much charm and charisma it glows on screen and comes across amazingly, his face portrays emotions with ease and you just warm to him immediately, faultless acting and perfection as his character.

Gandalf (Ian Mc Kellen), gives the viewer a treat, he is superb, again perfection for his role, he combines the warmth and dedication he has for Frodo with the anger and tension in the scenes with Saruman completely, a very polished performance and very moving.

Saruman (Christopher Lee), ok, I admit I am a bit if a Christopher Lee fan, but to be honest you wouldn’t recognise him in this if you didn’t know it was him, he is just the master of horror and needless to say he shines in this evil role,
you can feel the badness oozing out of him and you instantly despise his character, the best choice for this role anyone could have made.

Those are my favourites, but this does not mean by any means that the rest were poor in anyway, they were all incredible, however these were the three that stood out for me.

FILM AND EFFECTS
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The Fellowship Of The Rings was filmed in New Zealand and was the brainchild of Peter Jackson, the film took 247 days to make and the production work has already begun for the next episodes.
The special effects were utterly amazing, the creatures in particular were incredibly realistic, too realistic in fact, no minor detail has been overlooked in their creation, even to the dirt under their fingernails and the slaver dropping off their deformed fangs..
A lot of the film is very dark in colour, not black and white but dark and sombre in colour, this works extremely well and gives it more of a mysterious feel.

The scenery was breathtaking, forest, sunsets to the beautiful woodland city and the snow-covered mountains; everything was designed and filmed to perfection. It is no wonder that 120 technicians worked on the actual film to ensure its perfection.

MY VERDICT
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I thoroughly enjoyed this film and was completely glued to it from start to finish, its magical and captures your heart with its inbuilt charm right from the opening scenes, beautifully made and produced it ensures that the viewer will want for nothing.
The characters are all clearly defined and it is very easy to get into each character and understand them, plus you find the overall film extremely easy to follow and never find yourself getting lost in the plot.

I do have 2 small niggles, but small they are, the first is there is rather a lot of actual fighting scenes, these tend to go on a bit and seem pretty frequent at times, I felt that these could
have been reduced slightly enabling the film to move along faster.

Number 2 is the ending, I know there is another part to follow, but after this length of time and getting so involved in the story line, you somehow feel slightly cheated at the sudden ending, an ending which leaves no answers and you just want to know what happens next there and then, oh well will just have to wait till next December I suppose!, then the December after, great NOT!

But my overall verdict is a cinematic delight, which brings a whole new meaning and class to the Fantasy genre, truly amazing and really a must for anyone to see even if like me you didn’t fancy it!


PRODUCTION
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Directed by Peter Jackson
Produced by Barrie M. Osborne and JacksonFran Walsh and Tim Sanders.
The screenplay is by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Jackson
Based on the book by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Executive producers are Mark Ordesky and Bob and Harvey Weinstein. Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne .
Running time 178 minutes
Rating PG (but may not be suitable for under 8’s and I tend to agree after seeing it!)

Visit the official site at
http://www.lordoftherings.net/

© Ana 2002

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