Rating: 
Summary: A MOVIE TO MATCH THE BOOKS - FANTASTIC!!
Review: J.R.R. Tolkien's book, "The Lord of the Rings," has been voted in several worldwide polls as the "Book of the 20th Century." Peter Jackson and most of the people who worked with him on this project, were huge fans of Tolkien's works. As true fans, they all went to incredible lengths to stay as true as possible to the books, in making this film adaptation. That, and sparing no expense for the talent necessary to bring the chracters and landscapes alive, has resulted in a movie that is incredibly rich in detail, more so than can be perceived in a single viewing.My hat is off to Peter Jackson and Co.! They have done what no others have been able to do: bring to life and realism the fantastic realm of Middle earth.
Rating:
Summary: The Lord of The Rings-An Amazing Classic Adventure
Review: J.R.R. Tolkien's novel is amazing and so is the film, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. This film features fantastic performances from Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Sean Bean, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Hugo Weaving and many others. There are also thrilling battle sequences, beautiful art-like backgrounds, exquisite costumes and of course great acting performances. The Night Riders, are also some interesting characters.
The plot is basically, a ring which must be destroyed and Frodo Baggins played by Elijah Wood has volunteered for the job if you will. Soon, Orlando Bloom, Ian Mckellan, Viggo Mortensen and a few others will help him with this problem. The ring must be taken to the ghastly fires of Mount Doom where it was made, only there can it be unmade. But Sauron, the dark lord has returned and needs the ring. So, who will win the battle for the ring. An interesting tale of fantasy and fiction. The film from here really takes you on a thrill ride. The film features intense battle sequences with swords piercing and other methods of fighting if you will. So not a terrible choice for the kids, but having an adult wouldn't hurt, the film is PG-13 by the way. If you want to see a great adventure film then see The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. A great film to own, but it is fairly long so maybe you should watch it during the day. I can't wait for the next 2 films in the trilogy also directed by Peter Jackson. A great film, a must-see! A must-own as well! This is a lot better than that...Harry Potter and the well you know the title. Now that is not a good fantasy film, but I hate to say it, it was actually better than I expected. But the point, is see The Lord of the Rings, well you know the rest of the title. A film worth seeing, believe me! Available to own on Video and DVD, August 6th. By the way the next film, oh God I'm I getting tired of writing the title. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, will be coming out December 18, 2002. So that should be something to look foward to, but anyway see the first one and I think you know the title so I don't have to write it again. Thanks and I hope you found this review somewhat or totally helpful.
Also, the DVD is awesome. It has a load of features from a number of behind-the-scenes documetaries to commentaries by the director to a sneak peek of the new installment in the trilogy. Oh God, I have to spell out the title again don't I, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. There are also a load of DVD-Rom features. You can own this film in widescreen of fullscreen, but I think widescreen edition is a lot better. Both editions have the same feautres of course. Own this DVD, I am serious it is awesome! You will want it very much so, I am telling you. Nominated for 13 Academy Awards, taking in only 4. A masterpiece, Peter Jackson's best! At least that's how I feel about it! Anyway just buy the dang film. Thanks!
Rating:
Summary: Best Fantasy Movie Ever
Review: Jackson and new line Cinema give Tolkien's work the justice it deserves. The first volume in the trilogy really gets the juices flowing and I eagerly await the next. I do not consider mysel a real tolkein fanatic. In fact I found the books a bit heavy, particularly Tolkien's penchant for describing the geneology of his fictional characters. But there is no doubt that Tolkien created such a believable world, that I almost treat this work as an piece of historical fiction. Jackson's movie has a faster pace than the book while still remaining true not just to the spirt, but to the letter of the books too. True Tolkien grognards will find flaws, but I enjoyed the attention to detail that Jackson lavishes. This is where the DVD excells as you can go back and look for fresh stuff in each viewing. My only compaint is the blatant merchandising. They are releasing two versions of the DVD, one with 30 minutes of cut scenes. I found this a bit much. One DVD with all the extra material would have been much more logical.
Rating: 
Summary: He's a pinball wizard.....
Review: Jackson movie about some place called Middle Earth which has a giant squid (where's Kirk Douglas when you need him, eh?) Star Wars was criticised in it's day for it's bad dialogue but in retrospect it was witty and you liked the characters for it. The colourless characters and earnest, incomprehensible dialogue offers little for the kiddies here. It's a hoot for us wrinklies, though. Jackson's directorial style consists of an establishing shot followed by a pan into someone's face until they fill the screen and then staying there for minutes at a time. Cut to another character and then slowly pan in again until you see their blackheads. One of them mentions the ring; show ring on table and pan in until it's a very big ring indeed. It's uncomfortable and annoying, not to mention psychologically unwise as it's considered an invasion of personal space if someone puts their face up close to yours. After the 180th close up of Messrs Lee and McKellen, don't be surprised if your eyes turn back to front inside their sockets, drop down your throat and a red sign with a hundred pops out your head. The plot consists of a chap called Frodo getting chased by men on horseback, putting on the ring, falling flat on his back, getting up again, gets chased by the horsemen, puts on the ring, falls over, gets up again, gets chased again. I don't know why they didn't just tie him to a stretcher and drag him around, it would save everyone yelling 'FRODO!" All the time. Some wag in the audience picked up on this and yelled out "FRODO" At least three times. He totally cracked me up and from then on I was gone. Everything made me laugh. Gandalf's hat. The Elve's hairy feet. That Robbie Coltrane look-alike with the braided beard crying and banging his head on the altar. That neon door in the mountain that looked like one of those boutiques down the UK's King's Road. Those sea horses straight out of that bear commercial. There's something killingly funny about the word 'Mordar' for some reason, too. I've never had a giggle attack like this before during a film and It's painful trying to hold it in so as not to disturb your neighbours. I tried hurting my hand to distract myself like Micheal Caine in 'The Ipcress File' only to be confronted by a hysterical conference of Elves and Hobbits in a village over who should destroy the ring. They gurn, they snarl, they get a camera up their nostrils. Someone delivers the immortal line: "Never trust an elf!" Someone help me, I'm dying. There's also a chap called Legola. Well, he does look a bit plastic. Does Legola get his leg over? Is there a shire of wenches? Sadly, women don't get much of a look in during the film. The plot staggers on and more gut busting dialogue insues. "Yonder, see Iceguard!" "We shall go forth to Loftylorry!" I regain my composure after a bit of aggro in a mine. Later, Brit actor Sean Bean falls over in some leaves and begins sobbing "FRODO! FRODO!" Please no, not that name again. I'm off. This time some of the audience Joins me. Believe me, if your bereaved, in the middle of a divorce or depressed, this film will save you, it's a laugh riot. Suddenly Rawhead Rex turns up. Once relegated to straight to video, he has finally made it to the big screen. You can't keep a good bad guy down, I guess. Rawhead Rex's appearance leads to a really funny death scene in which a character falls down mortally wounded, gets up again and fights, falls down mortally wounded again, gets up and fights, falls down again, gets up and fights. Is he secretly related to Frodo? The audience is really cracking up now, it's the comedy of the year. Another chap called Sam has a swim, but is saved. "I'm glad you're with me, Sam" Frodo tells the dripping Hobbit, but we're far from glad as he's the one whose been yelling "FRODO!" The entire film. Boy, three down, six hours to go. I recover on the way home, open the bathroom cabinet when I get there and see a box of 'Frador'. I'm off again.
Rating: 
Summary: Over rated
Review: Jackson's version of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is somewhat disappointing. Although the cinematography and cast was of great quality, his inconsistency to detail, diversion from the book and jagged scene to scene jumping has left me utterly disappointed and dumbfounded of what all the hype is about. There were a few sub-plots that Jackson chose not to investigate to the fullest (eg. the broken sword) and yet he chose to add to a few plots of his own. I can only hope that the next two movies are an improvement on the first one.
Rating:
Summary: a supreme achievement in cinema
Review: Jackson, his cast, and team in New Zealand have created the first of what promises to be a landmark achievement in movie-making. If the Two Towers, and the Return of the King hold up, or perhaps surpass, The Fellowship of the ring in story-telling and production values, the film-going world is in for a treat. Frankly, I'll take Jackson's Lord of the Rings film(s) over anything Spielberg or Lucas have produced. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a massive film, that is also intimate, a story that deals with serious and important ideas but does so while folding in warmth and humor. Cheers, Peter Jackson and company!
Rating:
Summary: One Film to Rule Them All
Review: JRR Tolkien created world all it's own filled with mythical creatures, landscapes, and, most importantly, grand stories. There was so much adventure, love, hate, and compassion in the realm of Middle Earth that one could not help but get swept up in it. Of all of his works, The Lord of the Rings is the best known and most fully realized piece, which nobody outside of animators have dared tried to fully visualize. That brings us to mainly obscure New Zealander Peter Jackson, best known for campy horror flicks, who a half decade ago had the audacity to proclaim he would bring the fantasy epic to the big screen. Well, Peter Jackson got it right, and how right indeed. In all my post-adolescent life I've never been so engrossed in a film as I have with Fellowship of the Ring. Everything I loved about the books is there and then some. The landscapes of middle earth are larger than life, the characters so brilliantly recreated, and the action and intrigue even bigger. It's as if you're wildest imagination jumped from your head and onto celluloid. As the story goes, on his great adventure the hobbit, a miniature person, Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) came across a magic ring that allowed him to make himself disappear. On his 'eleventy-first' birthday Bilbo sets out to live with the elves and write his book of tales and leaves his ring to his heir, nephew Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood). Longtime friend and keeper of Middle Earth, the wizard Gandalf's (Ian McKellen) worst suspicions have come true and the ring is none other than the One Ring, which was forged by the dark lord Sauron to control the free peoples of Middle Earth, but had gone lost and now is found. While Gandalf desperately searches for more answers to the ring's history he sends Frodo and 3 hobbit friends to seek refuge. On the chase to steal the ring from the hobbits are Sauron's ringwraiths, ghost riders in black, who nearly do if not for the help of the mysterious man called Strider aka Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen). Based on the wishes of Gandalf a fellowship of nine of all races of Middle Earth with the four hobbits, wizard Gandalf, men Aragorn and Boromir (Sean Bean), the elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies). Not only do they have miles of treacherous terrain to work against, but they also will have to face the wrath of hordes of orcs, cave trolls, balrogs, and most importantly the wizard Sauron, once a trusted ally of Gandalf, who wants the ring for himself and has an army of Uruk-Hai warriors to assist him. The fellowship must rely on their superior intellect and gets help through the mythical elf queen Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) who resides in Lothlorien and has the the power of foresight and whose advice is as powerful as any blade. One would probably have to go back to Star Wars to find a world so fully realized visually. The look and feel of the landscapes is just as I've always pictured it in my head and then some. From the idealistic rural world of Hobbiton, the fantasy woods of Rivendell and Lothlorien, and the deep and vast caves of Moria, it's all perfectly recreated through a mixture of sets, miniatures, and computer graphics. The action pieces are so well done and the digital effects are seamlessly integrated and always seem to have purpose, which is unfortunately too often not the case in blockbuster films. The cinematography is spectacular and we're constantly awed by the natural beauty and land of New Zealand, which seems to be the ideal ancient Britain that Tolkien created his myths for. Of course, the props and makeup departments of WETA workshop are as equally up to the task and every being from the world of Tolkien is fully achieved through prosthetics and hours of labor on makeup. The thing that clinches the film's endearing quality is it's characters, which is what Tolkien's concentration was on, which Jackson so brilliantly picked up on. The casting was spot on, just perfect. Sir Ian McKellen's portrayal of Gandalf, my favorite character from the books, had me simply mesmerized and he captured both the power, compassion, and humanity of the character like nobody I've seen before. You can go through the entire cast, especially the fellowship, and check off each one as a great performance. Casting Christopher Lee as the powerful, hypnotic wizard Saruman was genius, as was Cate Blanchett as the haunting Galadriel, who we grow to both love and fear. Elijah Wood stands side by side with the more seasoned actors as our central character, Frodo, and he seems the ideal hobbit in his innocent look and spirit. The liberties that Jackson and his writing team of Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens in adapting Tolkien's massive work were well done. The work is streamlined for film, but the emotional core remains and that is what was most important to recreate, Tolkien's spirit. I'm sure a few 'purists' will be angered, but they probably would complain had they recreated it word for word. If anything they should be proud of such an accomplished film that is sure to spur millions more around the globe to pick up the legendary books and experience them for themselves. The sure box office success this film is going to generate will hopefully push more studios to take a chance of a project like this, which New Line did with Peter Jackson. Jackson cannot be commended enough for the massive assignment to took on himself to do by filming 3 epic pictures (really just one really long one) all at once. It's now without question which films will be the most anticipated in the next 2 years as the story is unfolded before our eyes each of the next two Christmas seasons.
Rating:
Summary: The most magical movie of our lifetime
Review: JRR Tolkien has brought us some magnificent novels back in the past and now a director known as Peter Jackson has brought the visions from the novels to reality in The Fellowship of the Ring. Following the book, a hobbit known as Bilbo Baggins finds a ring that was found in a cave where a creature named Golem kept it. He takes it and it gives him the power of long life. It begins to corrupt him day-by-day and one day he leaves it behind for for his one, Frodo Baggins. His wizard friend Gandalf The Grey sets off to find about of the ring's past. The ring belonged to a dark creature on Mt. Dune. The ring was forged there and only there it can be destroyed. When the creature was defeated, a warrior known as Eceildor took it and he was lead to the heart of Mt. Dune where it would be destroyed. Eceildor kept it and the race of men had failed after that. Drodo is told of its past, and he sets off on his own journey to get it as far awar from Middle Earth as possible for the black riders would find it. Another wizard known as Saruman turned to the dark side to find the ring and return it. He turns on his friend Gandalf and tries to have him join him. He refuses and when he does...*doesn't say anymore*. In my own opinion, The Fellowship of the Ring is a movie that has real emotion set to it with it's beautiful and complex story following the visionary novel. Full of emotion, action/adventure, not too much special effects, and outstanding story, this movie is a MUST for the ones who have read the books and are looking for a "visual" of it. That's my review on The Fellowship of the Ring. Thankyou
Rating:
Summary: One ring to bind them all
Review: JRR Tolkien, author of the Lord of the Rings, was a master at evoking the imagination. Most readers of his books probably have certain mental images of Middle-Earth and its characters. I certainly did. A film depiction of such well-loved books, thus, could easily fall short in many ways. I was ready to be disappointed. But I'm happy to report the filmakers of Fellowship of the Ring have done an excellent job in bringing the story to life on screen. Most of the characters and places are, well, as I imagined they would be. And even though it's been a long time since I read it, the story was easy to follow and well covered in the film--no small feat since Fellowship of the Ring is a fairly long book. It seems those who haven't read the book might have some trouble following the characters and the plot but I don't know how it could've been done better. As mentioned, the players are well-done, particularly the ringwraiths (chilling black creatures), the elves (elegant), the dwarfs (down-to-earth), the wizards (Saruman on top of his tower; he and Gandalf conjuring) and the hobbits (loveable homebodies). The nature scenes and the vistas are fabulous. Having said that, some things were perhaps a bit overdone. The balrog and the 3000 year-ago Sauron were mere animations (think how older films, by contrast, would create imaginary things out of very little; a computer drawn creature leaves little to imagine). The orcs were too monsterous and too complex in their form. Overall, I felt a bit of sensory overload with all the extended fighting scenes. A little less might have been more effective. In the very last scene, Frodo and Sam look toward Mordor. I might have expected a darker, more forbidding view but maybe they are still far away. This film makes me look forward to watching "Two Towers." Will we see Gollum long ago when he was still a man?
Rating:
Summary: Muscular filmmaking, but lacking charm.
Review: June 25, 2002 I knew going into this movie that Peter Jackson's
sensibilities were far from my own. I expected the action
scenes to be disorienting and over-edited, and they were.
Extreme close-ups, slow motion, swooping cameras, utter
disdain for master shots--audiences today don't seem to
mind this sort of thing (even though they usually rip me
right out of a film), so I was prepared to overlook
the issue. I'd heard good things about how determined
Jackson was to make an earnest adaptation of J.R.R.
Tolkein's books, how well written the movie was. That's
where I felt a bit let down. For starter's, the film's pacing is off. Narrative time
escapes 'FOTR' like water running out of a cracked jug. The
meeting of Strider and subsequent flight to Rivendell are
downright vertiginous after all that time (some of it wasted)
spent in the Shire. At the other end of the film, the last
fifteen minutes feel like a clock running down. Also, great
visuals aside, the film's prologue is inferior to its
counterpart in the Bakshi animated film, which at least
supplied the relevant information about who Gollum was. With a wonderful cast at his command, Jackson's most
serious misstep was to trim dialogue scenes and then bury
them in special effects. Cate Blanchett, for one, should
sue. The scene at Galadriel's mirror is embarrassingly
off-tone. The quaint humor of the book is largely abandoned,
a result I never dreamed might come from a New Zealand director
and his UK cast. It's one thing for a foreign production to
adopt the modern American hyperbolic film-style, it's quite
another to adopt the modern American leaden script-style.
This time it's Sean Austin who should sue. He gives his all,
but the part of Sam is chop-suey.
Although I cannot agree that all of the special effects
come off perfectly, they are often stupendous. The cast
is mostly excellent. I can see a lot of hard work in
Fellowship. Unfortunately, I don't see much subtlety or charm.
For that rare blockbuster not made in Hollywood,
those should be its trump cards.
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