Rating: 
Summary: ACTION PACKED
Review: This masterpiece created by JRR TOLKIEN was greatly done in movie form. It was jam packed with action including fierce battle scenes and great plot. There are great, great battles filled with orcs, monsters, mountain trolls, ring raithes, and other fierce bad guys. It is contued with the TWO TOWERS and then concluded in THE RETURN OF THE KING. the TWO TOWERS comes out in december. The book is great and if they make it like the book it will be spectacular.
Rating:
Summary: Such a PHENOMENAL movie, I'm dedicating my life to it!
Review: My girlfriend and I saw it on our first date and again on our second date, as well as several times on DVD. Well, we loved it almost as much as we love each other so we are getting married in New Zealand on December 18, 2002. After the ceremony, my wife and I are taking our family and friends to the theater to see The Two Towers!
Rating:
Summary: Extended Versian Is Going to Rock
Review: The Fellowship of the Ring was definatly the best fantasy movie ever made. Sure, there were great fantasy movies - Willow, The Neverending Story, Legend - but none compare to the Fellowship, or the rest of the LOTR trilogy for that matter.Finally, however, we will get to see the movie how is should have been. The extended versian contains THIRTY MINUTES extra footage. All those people who were made that the movie took out scenes from the book..well..this should make them happy. Also, the 30 minutes extra footage is mostly non-action. A lot of people complained Fellowship of The Ring had too much action and not enough drama/happy scenes. Well, these 30 extra-minutes are going to fix that. The only reason we didn't get the directors cut in theatres is cause I assume they were afraid that a 3.5 hour long movie would be too much for casual movie-goers. LOTR fans, this is your movie - don't be fooled by the non-extended versians available. It was just a cheap ploy to make money. New Line Cinema was hoping to get people to buy the LOTR:Fellowship DVD, and then get them to buy the Extended Versian 1 year after the movie's release so they can make twice as much money - Sadly, it worked. At least the curropt movie industry didn't ruin this movie, however, as it is the greatest fantasy movie ever made.
Rating:
Summary: Yeah, I know nobody's gonna read this.
Review: Oh well. Just so long as I put my opinion out there. This movie seems to have come with several other Epic Scale Movies (Harry Potter, Star Wars Episode Two. Well, Star Wars wasn't Epic, but the crowds sure as hell were). It has also outdone them all. Harry Potter is SO DAMN ANNOYING after the first two times. If your really want an hour or so of fun watch Harry Potter, but taunt everything. It's amazingly easy. Anyway Lord of The Rings has many differences from the books, mostly that they add scenes - my two favorite being the Gandalf/Saruman fight and the Story of the Ring. The only bad thing was the music was sooooo intense all the time, but even that wasn't enough to take it down to 4 stars. I note that the 1 star reveiws all come from one of two types of movie : Fantasy haters who never read the book, or Tolkein Super Geeks who fear change. I love fantasy (presenting my Dungeons and Dragons collection as proof) and I think The Lord Of The Rings has opened the door of fantasy to the public. Let it's enemies (Catholic Conservatives) despair. Shouldn't I be gone?
Rating:
Summary: Helpful advice to viewers (especially if you didn't like it)
Review: Okay, this review is for anyone who hasn't seen LOTR yet (wow, where have you been?) or anyone who has only seen it once. Disregard any opinions about this film, even mine. Who knows if you'll love/hate it? But remember one thing: TAKE YOUR IMAGINATION WITH YOU! You have one, don't you? Treat your imagination as if it was your passport, a passport to an entirely different and magical land where dreams come true and reality is lost. That being said, this film was an unexpected surprise for me. Sure, it ended abruptly, but you have to remember it's the same way the novels ended. How's that for faithful? You have to at least learn the names of the nine people in the Fellowship in order to understand the characters. Disregard the special effects (although they are pretty darn special!) and take in the scenery. Can you believe there are really untouched places like that? Also, don't look at the Ring as an object, look at it as the main character with a mind of it's own and a will to corrupt the unlucky souls it finds.
Rating:
Summary: More Lord of the Rings!
Review: I wait with great anticipation for the release of "The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, extended version". I am a big fan of the books, and to see the movie is like you are reading parts of the book. Notice I said PARTS of the book. In my opinion Peter Jackson has done a remarkable job staying true to the book, however you just can't fit a 398 page book into 3 hours. That is why I am so excited about this version, Peter Jackson has restored into the movie about 30 more min. Such scenes as the gift giving in lothlorien, the pasion and deep respect of Gimli to Galadriel, Gollum following the fellowship down the Anduin River, and Bilbo writing in his book; chapter one "Concerning Hobbits". I still admit even 3&1/2 hours will not be nearly enough to cover the first part of J.R.R. Tolkein's incredible epic novel. But this is a must have for fans of the theatrical version and of the books.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing movie - even if you're a die-hard fan of the book
Review: I have never watched any of the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings movies before. In junior high/early high school these were my favorite books and I read the trilogy 13 times!!! Plus biographies of Tolkien, etc. I always figured I would be disappointed by a movie version because it would look nothing like I imagined it. I never imagined I would see such a fabulous movie version of the Lord of the Rings. While the hobbits have their endearing moments (as they do in Tolkien's books) they are portrayed with a dignity I never expected from Hollywood. When I see maps, elvish script, the doors to Moria and other things that Tolkien drew pictures of for his books, the movie has been quite faithful to his designs. The movie is equally true to Tolkien's themes. More complex than a two-dimensional "good vs. evil" flick, the movie captures Tolkien's vision that the "good" things we pursue can twist us to evil purposes when these things are placed above the virtues. Men's love of power, the dwarves love of wealth and finely-crafted material things, the elves love of knowledge and beauty (and the hobbit's love of comfort and security) are potentially good but can also be their downfall. All these races can become corrupted when love for these things is placed above the higher goods of justice, courage, loyalty to each other, and genuine caring for our fellow beings. This theme is front-and-center in the movie - just as it is in Tolkien's books. Finally, the movie creates the same emotions I felt by reading the book. Frodo's anguish, the love between Aragorn and Arwen, the pride of Boromir and the dwarves - all capture the same flavor and feel. Even the feel of the landscapes. In some senses the characters may strike some viewers as caricatures. Well, to a great extent that was the intention of the artist. Tolkien created an epic saga patterned after the Norse, Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon epics (a professor at Oxford, Tolkien spoke all these languages fluently and began creating his own languages by the time he was five. He could fluently speak the language of any of the races in his books and created the languages BEFORE he created the Lord of the Rings epic). Like the classic epics, the emphasis was often on characterizing what it means to live by the virtues (especially in tragic situations when the virtues come into conflict), rather than portraying each character as a totally unique individual. If you don't like these kind of characters or the movie that's fine. But if you fault Tolkien or the movie as a lesser work on that basis then you've missed much of the point and purpose and depth of his creation. If you're interested in reading more about how ethics of the virtues differ from the kind of ethics that is most frequently taught in colleges and universities today (based on utilitarian, rights, or radical freedom of choice - and frequently some mutually-incompatible mish-mash of the three) then I highly recommend Alasdair MacIntyre's book *After Virtue* or his earlier book *A Short History of Ethics: a history of moral philosophy from the Homeric age to the twentieth century*. If most ethics or philosophy today seems academic and irrelevant then *After Virtue* may explain why you feel that way. MacIntyre argues that while 18th-20th century academics frame ethical questions in terms of utility or rights or radical choice, people today still frequently make real ethical choices based on much more fundamental notions of fairness, courage and caring for others. Once you grasp this difference, you may gain a deeper appreciation for what the Lord of the Rings portrays and for Tolkien's style.
Rating:
Summary: The best Lord of The Rings DVD Release
Review: Peter Jackson's first part of the collossal LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy is nothing short of a brilliant masterpiece, with incredible SFX, great characters, and staying true to J.R.R Tolkien's story while altering some of the book's elements to make it more suitable for film.
Deeply rooted in the fantasy genre, Fellowship of the Rings sees a young Hobbit Frodo Baggins inherit a powerful mystical ring from his cousin Bilbo Baggins. The ring, worn by the Dark Lord Sauron, has been passed down through many people until it reaches Bilbo. The mighty wizard Gandalf and a troop of dwarfes, elves and hobbits set out on a journey to destroy the dangerous ring by casting it back into the lava of Mt. Doom. But of course, there are bad guys, in the form of Saruman the White, played with relish by the brilliant Christopher Lee and his army of Orcs and Ringwaiths. Director Peter Jackson (The Frighteners) has taken Tolkein's story and molded it into the perfect fantasy adventure. Some characters that were ciphers in the novel have been elevated to main characters, and while some purists may be upset over the loss of some characters, Jackson does do service to the story's originality. And the result? In a Hollywood summer of dissapointments, Fellowship was the standout, one of those rare films that come along like The Matrix that remind us of why we like movies in the first place. In a film as ambitious as this, all the key elements are in place, the masterful storytelling, Jackson's brilliant visionary direction, superb acting (especially Ian McKellen as Gandalf and Elijah Wood as Frodo), incredible visual effects and the wealth of imagination from Tolkien's extraordinary tome. The supporting cast is great too, with John Rhys- Davies as Gimli the dwarf, Sean Bean as Boromir and Orlando Bloom as Legolas Greenleaf. The best facet about the whole thing is that it's so real that you really think that all this happened long ago. And that, more than anything else is a bonifide sign that this is not only one of the greatest cinema acheivements ever, but it's now entered into the cultural zeitgeist. The film takes us where we've never been before, Tolkein's world of Wizards, elves, ringwaiths, orcs and all the other imaginative creatures on display are a thrill to watch. For such a huge scale, the use of CG is of course neccesary, and the visuals are incredible, utilising state-of-the-art technology to create entire landscapes, creatures and battles. The most outstanding scene, where our intrepid fellowship travels into the mines of Mordor is a fantastic tour-de-force of incredible movie magic. The seamless blend of FX and amazing cinematography is absolutly breath-taking. Howard Shore's brooding score adds another layer of excellence to the myraid of adventurous escapism. There are problems; the film may not sit well with purists and the ending feels somewhat of an anti- climax after the climactic Mordor, but we all know that the real battles are yet to come. This is a film that takes you far beyond your imagination. What lies ahead for THE TWO TOWERS will no doubt be even more amazing and draw the millions of eager fans out once again to witness the second part to one of the most amazing films ever made. For people who managed to hold off the temptation to but the first DVD release, this platinum series "extended" edition is worth the wait. Discs 1 and 2 have a unique version of LOTR with over 30 minutes of cut footage incorporated into the film and new music scored by Howard Shore. Also included are four feature-length audio commentaries by director and writers, the design team, the production team, and the cast featuring more than 30 participants.
Discs 3 and 4 contain some of the most comprehensive extra material ever on DVD. Disc 3 has the doco "From Book to Vision": Adapting the book into a screenplay & planning the film, Designing and building Middle-earth, storyboards to pre-visualization, Weta Workshop visit including creatures and miniatures from the film, an awesome interactive map of Middle-earth tracing the journey of the Fellowship, an interactive map of New Zealand (yay!) highlighting the location scouting process, galleries of art and slideshows with commentaries by the artists, guided tour of the wardrobe department footage from early meetings, moving storyboards and pre-visualization reels.
DISC 4 has the doco "From Vision to Reality": Bringing the characters to life, "A day in the life of a hobbit", principal photography: Stories from the set, scale: Creating the illusion of size, galleries of behind-the-scenes photographs and personal cast photos, editorial and visual effects multi-angle progressions and sound design demonstration. Plus the whole thing comes with two bookends. One could point out that perhaps there are one too many different releases of LOTR on DVD, but fans love the extra-extra stuff. One of the best, if not THE best DVD releases ever!
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!
Review: This movie has it all... great storyline, great actors, great action sequences and unbelievable graphic and visual effects. The recreation of the vaious "worlds" is truly amazing and illustrates the endless possibilities that computer graphics offers to a skilled programmer.
There were so many opportunities for this movie not to live up to all of the hype. However, Fellowship of the Ring truly delivers! I cannot wait for the sequel, and there have been very few movies that evoke that response from me. I would recommend this movie to anyone that enjoys the fantasy-adventure genre or just wants to see a well-made and directed film.
Rating: 
Summary: What a [ploy]!
Review: This movie was released on DVD with great fanfare just a few months ago. They knew they were going to do an extended length release then - they've already predicted how many first release purchasers will repurchase. Dispicable.
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