Rating: 
Summary: Wow. That's it, just "wow."
Review: "Fellowship of the Ring?"Ho- Lee- [Cow].... That's all I've got to say about that. I was so impressed by this movie that it's hard to put into words. The sets and secenery were breathtaking. It's really amazing that they were able to convincingly re-create an imaginary world so vividly. The castles, the mountains and forests, everything was truly amazing. Something else that bears mentioning are the visual tricks they used to make normal-sized people appear as Hobbits, who are about half the size of a man. Nowhere in the movie does it fail. I couldn't even tell what they were doing most of the time. But whatever it was, it worked flawlessly. The costumes were unreal. The monsters looked monstrous. That seems like a little thing, but I consider myself a pretty tough guy, and some of them scared me a little bit. The scale of the large battle scenes was unbelievable. You can tell yourself that they're created with computers, but when you see it onscreen, it doesn't look like it. "Seamless" is the best word for it. The computer imagery was completely integrated into the movie. If nobody wins an Oscar for this, something is seriously wrong with the Academy voters. The smaller fight scenes were also incredibly well done. Yeah, it's hack-n-slash, but it's well-done hack-n-slash, and that's a-okay in my book. They're really violent. There will be several moments where you'll sit in your seat and go "Whoa." It's not for the squeamish. All the actors did a great job. Special props go to Ian McKellan, Sean Astin, and Sean Bean. McKellan was to Gandalf what Patrick Stewart was to Professor Xavier, namely a man who seemed born to play this role. Astin played another Hobbit, Sam Gamgee. Forget "the Goonies" or "License to Drive" or any of the other '80s stuff he was in. He was totally convincing, and, even though I'm a huge devotee of all things '80s, I had no trouble buying him in his role. Bean is one of my favorite actors, based on his work in the British film versions of the "Sharpe" novels. Going into this movie, I was afraid he was going to play another sleazeball, like he did in "Goldeneye" and "Patriot Games." But Boromir wound up being one of my favorite characters. Yes, he was flawed, but he ultimately found redemption, so Bean can hopefully avoid being typecast as a villain. Wait until you finish reading this, then get up and go see this movie right now! But you should be prepared that this is obviously the first part of a trilogy. There's a huge cliffhanger at the end, so you'll be wishing it was Christmas 2002 already. I know I am.
Rating:
Summary: I was at this one too. It's still not how it happened.
Review: "It wasn't just like the book. Peter Jackson wasn't close enough to the mark. Where's Tom Bombadil? THE BOOKS WERE BETTER!" BLA! BLA! BLA! BLA! BLA! I've had enough of the "fan boys" complaining about the fact that the films are not "like the books". That's because these are what people living in the present like to call "films, or movies". Give peter Jackson credit where it's due. Nobody makes truly epic films like this anymore. The man's discovered a lost art. As much as I like George Lucas, he can create a universe from nothing and transfer it to film. Peter Jackson used the real world and made sure that a great deal of time, effort, and care went into presenting this ADAPTATION. If it were just like the books, people would have fallen asleep or walked out after the first 100 page narrative. GROW UP! ENJOY LIFE! WATCH MORE TV! DRINK SOME ALE AND SMOKE A HOBBIT PIPE WHILE YOU'RE AT IT! Sincerely, Bilbo Baggins
Rating:
Summary: "Rings" Lords Over Special Effects Flix
Review: "Lord of the Rings" is painstakingly detailed, craftily filmed and expertly cast. This film is superior to any other special effects extravaganzas (eg. Star Wars) because of the love that went into the script rather than to its toy-tie-ins. The film demonstrates the importance of close relationships. It teaches us that pursuing goals despite the odds is the righteous path and so much more rewarding than backing down.
Buy the DVD Extended version in WIDESCREEN format. There is much to keep discovering in this film classic!
Rating:
Summary: History In The Making
Review: "One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them,
One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them"
Extract from "The Fellowship of the Ring". Stories may come and go but it takes an extraordinary tale to excite the world and bring moments of sheer magic to generations, decade after decade. Tolkiens classic story has finally hit the screens with the first part in the trilogy "The Fellowship of the Ring". The other two parts to follow, one later on this year in December and the final part following in 2003. Peter Jackson the films director, himself an avid Tolkien fan, took on a huge task in bringing this literary masterpiece to the big screen. Surprising, as it may seem, others were not keen to invest in this moment in history and Jackson ended up funding virtually the whole project from his own personal funds. Fortunately the movie is proving a huge success and Jackson will receive a nice financial return for all his hard work, but that was never the reason behind his motivation. Only a true believer could do this epic tale justice. Has he succeeded? So far, yes! Will he continue to do so in the following parts? Only time will tell but I believe this trilogy will prove to be just as popular if not more so, than the books from whence it came. It is difficult to review one third of a story, I will however, do my best! In the land of Middle earth a race of creatures known as hobbits merrily go about their business. Most of which consists of entertaining each other, eating, smoking and enjoying a quiet and comfortable life. Leaving adventuring to the hardier races in the land. This is of course, until one hobbit Bilbo Baggins, goes on an adventure by accident and through this journey discovers a ring. This ring contains immense power far beyond its more obvious ability to make the wearer invisible. Should this ring fall in to the wrong hands it would cause chaos and disaster throughout the land. One evil and vile creature seeks the ring more than all others, Sauron the Dark Lord. Should he obtain the ring then all the land will suffer. Only one thing can be done to make sure this never happens. The ring must be destroyed in the fires of the Mount Doom. Responsibility for the destruction of the ring falls heavily upon the shoulders of Frodo Baggins, Bilbo's favourite nephew. This is where the story begins in "The Fellowship of the Ring". Frodo must travel across the land with a loyal band of friends and protectors. Facing all manner of evil creatures and life threatening situations. Constantly being chased by Saurons elite soldiers, the "Ring wraiths" Frodo frequently proves that strength and courage can often come from the unlikeliest of heroes. Part one of the trilogy focuses on the group sent to protect Frodo, how they meet and bond with eachother through adversity on the first part of the journey. In parts two and three the story moves on to more epic proportions! The cast is a mixture of new young talented actors mixed with older more experienced thespians. The lead role of Frodo is filled by Elijah Wood, a relative newcomer to acting. His character is guided on his journey by Gandalf an elderly wizard, played by Ian McKellen. McKellens experience as an actor shines through and it is obvious that his influence evokes outstanding performances from the rest of the cast. Jackson deliberately avoided using big box office names such as Bruce Willis, Sean Connery, etc as leading actors, enabling the viewer to focus on the characters. Considered commercial suicide by many, Jackson is proved correct in his choices. I was able to see the characters as Tolkien described without thinking about previous characters portrayed by the cast in other films. Established actors do crop up in more minor roles, Ian Holm as Bilbo, Hugo Weaving as Elrond, etc but McKellen is the only real star to feature in the film. Jackson took a chance and it paid off!
Rating:
Summary: Just as good as the books.
Review: "One Ring to rule them All;" not to mention the world and the box office. The first installment of the epic "Lord of the Rings" trilogy does not fail to please and it even throws in something extra. Now, the first thing that you notice is the sets: wow. The year it took to set them all up in pre-production paid off. You have never seen locations like the Mount Doom, Hobbiton, Rivendell, Moria, Lothlorien or Argonath. Next, the cast shines through with heartfelt, moving performances. The actors include Ian MacKellan (Gandalf), Christopher Lee (Saruman), Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), Elijah Wood (Frodo) Sean Bean (Boromir) and Sean Astin (Sam). The plot is fairly simple: Frodo is a hobbit who inherits a powerful Ring made thousands of years ago by the dark lord Sauron, and if Sauron gets it back, he will rule Middle-Earth. Frodo, with the help of his companions Merry, Pippin, Sam, Gandalf, and Aragorn to name a few, go on a perilous flight to Sauron's stronghold in Mordor where the Ring can be destroyed. But all the while, Saruman is plotting to take the Ring for himself. Director Peter Jackson, along with thousands of extras, production assistants, designers, writers and actors have brought the "Lord of the Rings" in all its splendor, emotion and granduer to the screen. This movie has set a new bar for fantasy movies, but will probably be reset by the next two movies. I highly recommend this movie to anyone. Lovers of Tolkein books or not.
Rating:
Summary: Truly one of a kind
Review: "The Fellowship of the Ring" is a movie in a million: It has outstanding acting, directing, special effects, plotting, has romance and action and deep messages that still resonate today, decades after the books were published. It lives up to every ounce of the hype, and has deservedly made a huge mound of money. Now New Line has released it as it should be: Uncut, with plenty of extras for the raving geeks among us. Frodo Baggins is an innocent young hobbit living in the idyllic Shire. But when his uncle Bilbo vanishes suddenly and leaves him all he owns to his nephew -- including a golden ring that makes the wearer invisible -- Frodo is told by the wizard Gandalf that his ring is the One Ring, the tiny indestructable token that contains the power of the demonic Dark Lord Sauron. The only way the Ring can be destroyed is to throw it into the volcano where it was forged, in the middle of the land of Mordor. Frodo volunteers for a perilous quest across Middle-Earth to destroy the Ring, even though he is small, weak, and not a warrior or a wizard. But he has no idea of the hideous powers that are chasing him, with the Ring threatening to turn the Fellowship of the Ring into a battleground. "Lord of the Rings" is one of those books that you think could never be made into a good movie. If this had been made only for the money, that would have been true. But Peter Jackson, the cast and crew obviously love the story and wanted to make it as good and as real as possible, and for that I am deeply, deeply grateful. Elijah Wood is outstanding as the tiny, unlikely hero Frodo Baggins, who is a wide-eyed innocent whose strength is all on the inside. Wood does an outstanding job of showing Frodo's childlike trust, joy and innocence being chipped away, and his growing desperation as things start to fall apart around him. Sean Astin is loyal and loveable as the extremely difficult-to-play Sam Gamgee, Frodo's best friend. Dominic Monoghan and Billy Boyd play Frodo's somewhat ditzy but well-meaning cousins. Orlando Bloom has a macho-ethereal air as the elf archer Legolas, and John Rhys-Davies is wonderful as the everything-big-but-height dwarf Gimli. Ian McKellen is the quintessential gray wizard, crabby and kindly at the same time. (Like Dumbledore? You ain't seen nothin' yet!) The movie is extended, including a lot of material from the books that never made it to theaters, such as the Sackville-Bagginses, greater insight into the Arwen/Aragorn relationship, the awful Midgewater Marshes, more about Gollum, Frodo and his cousins dancing and singing at the pub, Aragorn's past, Gimli and Legolas's budding friendship, greater insights into Frodo and Sam's friendship, more of Sam's shy interest in Rosie Cotton, Bilbo and Frodo's sweet father-son relationship, and a "gift" scene where we see Galadriel's softer side. The movie stretches over two of the four DVDs, which also include audio commentaries that you can turn on. (Plenty of entertaining anecdotes with the actor commentaries, such as the year-long prank that the other hobbits played on the unsuspecting Elijah Wood) The third and fourth DVDs are also treats. The third DVD focuses on Tolkien and the background of "Lord of the Rings." And the fourth DVD is also great fun: It focuses on behind-the-scenes of the movie. There is "Fellowship of the Cast," which outlines the main actors, serious and silly stuff (Dominic Monoghan can't stand pain, Elijah Wood can sleep anywhere, Sean Astin is a worrier, Liv Tyler made Orlando Bloom drive her around in New Zealand), as well as things about the supporting actors, and the scale doubles used for Gimli and the hobbits. There is "Day in the Life of a Hobbit," which shows the makeup-feet-ears that were done for the hobbit actors, how they filmed, and what they did in their time off. (It involves a lot of bleeped-out cursing) There is then a careful run-through of how they shot the different locations, followed by studies of the "big-atures" (enormous scale models), special effects, and computer-generated creatures. After a slightly monotonous section on editing the film to how it showed in the theaters, we get a glimpse of how the movie was received across the world. Hypothetically this movie should be for Tolkien geeks -- the in-depth studies of Tolkien and a fair amount of the extra movie material center on things that won't make sense to those who haven't read the books. But if you don't mind not knowing, for example, who Morgoth is or where Valinor is, then it won't bother you at all. "Fellowship of the Ring" and its extras are funny, touching, cute, intense, smoother and richer than before. A must-buy, for geek and non-geek alike.
Rating:
Summary: May It Be an Oscar winner (well, at least "The Return...")
Review: "The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring" is a great opening to a trilogy of hopefully great movies (we have yet to see "The Return of the King"). Plot, characters, music, everything is great. And the digital grading made the movie look much better than your mainstream fantasy movies. In modern times, fantasy movies have gotten a bad reputation, not only because movies like "Reign of Fire" and "Dungeons And Dragons". Wait... it's mainly because of movies like them. But "The Fellowship of the Ring" beat the odds and established itself as one of the best movies of all time. "The Two Towers" even broke the alltime record of most views in 3 days (formerly held by "The Lion King"). So, the Academy didn't like the movie quite as much as the "normal" people, but "The Fellowship of the Ring" has won the "Best movie" awards at most other award shows, mainly those whose winners are elected by the public. And the Academy doesn't like fantasy either. I mean, most of the members are old people who like movies like "A Beautiful Mind" (American heroes). The actors were all great and believable. The difference in the sizes of Gimli and the hobbits were so believable that I stopped noticing it after a very short while. The special effects were all great, all except for Gollum. I mainly don't like him because his eyes are quite different from how they look in "The Two Towers". And the music is great. Original and moving. "The Bridge of Khazad-Dûm" (last part) combined with Gandalf "dying" moved me to tears... several times (different viewings). This is a great movie, no matter what the Academy thinks. Buy it, watch it and then watch all of the extras. I watched it all, even the commentary tracks, each at least 3 times!
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie
Review: "The lord of the rings" is a great movie for fantasy lovers. I have to say the computer effects were great. It is much less boring then the book, although that ment cutting out A LOT of stuff from the book. If you're looking just for action, this is probably not for you. But if you are looking for a great story, then this is it!
Rating:
Summary: "One Ring to rule them all..."
Review: "The Lord of the Rings" Part 1 is a truely amazing film, and even more amazing on DVD. This might do for a 'PG' rating, but then again those Orcs are pretty freaky. I liked how Sauron looked, he was kind of like a Medieval Uber-Jason or something, but I don't think the guy who played him was credited, unless it was an animatronic model. Ian Holm plays the cheery and kind Bilbo, and he also played Jack the Ripper in the Hughes Brothers' "From Hell". Elijah Wood is Frodo, and he does a really good job, I don't think anyone else is as good for the part as him, as is no one else meant for Samwise Gamgee but Sean Astin. Pippin and Merry, the two friends of Frodo and Sam, are comedic and get into a lot of mischief, and the man behind Aragorn was really good, too. Gandalf was pretty cool, and I think my favorite scene was when they battled that huge Fire Demon. Christopher Lee (Star Wars 2, Sleepy Hollow) portrays the evil Saruman, who surprises us all by asking Gandalf to also join the side of evil. The fight between Gandalf the Grey and Saruman the White was okay, it was kind of odd because two old guys grunting and kickin' the ... out of each other. I was kind of sorry that they didn't show much of Gollum (Andy Serkis), but he appears quite a bit in "The Two Towers", I think. The Ringwraiths were especially scary, and the fight between the first five and Aragorn was pretty cool, but I didn't it was all that epic. Personally, I think that "The Lord of the Rings" deserves a spot in anyone's collection, but I also strongly recommend it on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: One ring to rule them all...
Review: "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Platinum Series Extended Edition)" is one masterpiece. It will take your home theater to its limits. While the picture quality is excellent on this DVD, it is not quite up to "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones" quailty. Nevertheless, the transfer is very well done. However, the soundtrack is what makes this DVD really shine. The DTS-ES 6.1 soundtrack is simply amazing. The surround speakers are continuously active throughout the movie, the LFE (low frequency effects) will have your subwoofer jumping, and the musical score will take over your emotions. The soundtrack is like nothing you have heard before. During any battle scene, you'll be impressed at what your home theater can really do. And since this DVD is mastered on the "hot" side, you'll notice that you'll have the volume nob lower than what you normally have it at. The extras are also very well done. They provide many hours of information on how they made "The Lord of the Rings" come to life, and even include a hidden "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" trailer! And not the mention the MTV spoof, very funny! Overall, this is a DVD to own. It has excellent audio and video quality as well as tons of extras. Definitely a must-have DVD!
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