Rating: 
Summary: I cannot stop thinking about this film.
Review: I will start by saying that I never read any of the books, but I do intend to (once my husband finishes rereading them)! I have already seen the film twice and both times was very impressed with its effects, cinematography, and the performances of each and every character (I cried at several points both times I saw it). I am glad that I did not read the books first, because another movie I saw recently was damaged by my reading the books, namely Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. I adored Harry Potter and read every book. I had the movie on my calendar for a year, but when I saw it, I just did not like it. It was too slow and I knew everything that was going to happen.With LOTR, I know I will go back and enjoy the books, and like all the die hard fans, will find flaws with the films, but the film has already found a solid place in my heart and because of that I will always love the film series regardless of my opinion on the books. Elijah Wood was wonderful and his passion for the role definitely came through (his eyes have stayed with me even now). Sean Astin's Sam brought the most tears to my eyes when he rushed into the river after Frodo and insisted he must stay by his side. Ian McKellen is a magnificent Gandalf. Orlando Bloom is a terrific newcomer and Legolas always impressed me most during the battle scenes with his poise and mastery of the bow and arrow. Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchett were both beautiful and elegant. Sean Bean and Viggo Mortgensen were terrific, and so were Christopher Lee (he just dripped evil), John Rhys-Davies (known better for his roles in the Indiana Jones films) and both actors who played the hobbits Merry and Pippin. Even before the film ended I was leaning over to my husband and telling him that I couldn't wait until next year to see The Two Towers!!!! Anyway, to sum up this babbling review, the movie was excellent and I highly recommend it to all!!! P.S. One note, small children will probably be scared by the orcs and some of the other effects so parents beware.
Rating:
Summary: I thought it couldn't be better.... but now it is!
Review: I wish I could give it 7 stars. I love this movie, there's no other way to put it. I loved the theatrical version and thought that it was the top of what movies can be, but I was wrong because this version is even better. I would have gladly sat through this version (about 3.5 hours) in the theatre. I've only read the first 90% of the Hobbit, so I don't know how well it goes with the book, and I don't know when there's scenes in the movie that aren't in the book, etc, so I can't comment on any of that. I can say though that the movie is perfectly understandable even without having read the book. I thought the theatrical version was awesome, but this version just takes the cake, so to speak. If you're a Lord of the Rings fan then this is a must-see. There's probably no more than 15-20% that's exactly as it was in the theatrical version. I won't mention exactly what's added because I don't want to spoil it. A lot of the added stuff is character related, which I like, and it slows the pace of the movie down a bit (but just a little), which I also like (they are on a long journey, which takes a long time, I think this version shows that better). You also get to see a lot more of the elves and Legolas, which I was very happy about, being a fan of the elves. I watched all the extras (not including the National Geographic disc), and the amount of thought, work, and detail put into the movie is incredible. It's mind-boggling (is that a word?). It's also very interesting to see how they did it, although part of me wishes I didn't know so I could still watch it, awed, thinking "how'd they do that?". I guess something about knowing how they did it takes some mystery out of the film, so if you don't want some of the mystery taken away, don't watch the documentaries on the 2nd bonus disc. The book ends are wonderful, even the box that it all comes in is wonderful, I'm trying to think of a use for it so I don't have to throw it away. :-) It's worth the money to get the gift set, and it would for sure make a great gift to anyone who loves the Lord of the Rings. Very, very highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: A heck of a movie...but I mourn for my lost youth.
Review: I wish I was a kid again, and I could just gloss over the weak points of a particular work and get lost in a world, to really believe in a world the way you do when you are in your teens, the way I did when I last read LOTR about 15 years ago. I was looking forward to this movie more than any I can remember, hoping intensely that it would transform me back to my hopeful, believing youth, to that land of magic when you first hear Strider speak... Sometimes, you buy too much into the hype, and it ruins a movie for you. That *almost* happened to me with LOTR/FOTR. The movie is a heck of a movie, and you would do yourself a major disservice not to see it. But I felt I just knew too damn much about what was going to happen every step of the way, even though it has been 15 years since I last read the books. The suspense and the palpable sense of evil that others have described did not grab me as viscerally as I had hoped, and despite the three-hour running time, I felt that there needed to be more character development, and perhaps a truncation of the Urak-Hai racing through the woods scenes (poorly done makeup there, compared to the masterly makeup on Gandalf et al). You see, the thing about LOTR, the books, is that I believed in them, almost religiously, so that I came to tears at certain points. There are tear-jerking moments in this movie, but they didn't quite jerk hard enough. Ultimately, I wanted to be a little kid again, to believe, and I didn't quite get there. I don't know if it's my fault or Peter Jackson's, but you have to give the crew and the actors a hand for what was obviously one of the most difficult and sweeping movie shoots in history. Other comments: The acting is well done, as was the casting (with the exception of Hugo Weaving as Elrond; what were they thinking? Instead of an elf who is supposedly beautiful and kindly they choose the creepy evil bad guy from the Matrix?). I especially liked Sean Bean as Boromir, Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn (the guy most likely to come out of this like Harrison Ford from Star Wars), and of course, Ian McKellen's Gandalf. One thing that Peter Jackson got, totally dead on, were the Black Riders. They practically stole the show, they were so perfect. The cave troll, by the way, is a marvel, as are the other scenes in Moria. But, hey, for a four-day journey, we (as moviegoers) never really learn why Moria was important, why it matters. How about a fireside chat with Gimli exclaiming for 20-30 seconds about the riches that could once be found here? Maybe that will be one of the things we get in the director's cut? In fact, here's hoping they RELEASE a DIRECTOR's CUT in APRIL. They would easily make another $50-100M from the die-hards at almost no cost! Then release both on the special edition DVD in August... Well, enough of me lamenting my lost youth. Go out and see the movie!
Rating:
Summary: Good, but.....
Review: I witnessed the first installment of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy on the last day of 2001, before everyone and their grandmother began raving about it. I had high hopes for it because of the good reviews I had heard, and the commercials alone were enough to convince one to see it. But did it live up to the hype? Was it the modern masterpiece that everyone said it was? Did it deserve to be #1 on the IMDB polls? Well, to some extents it lived up to the hype. I don't think it is a masterpiece (well, maybe a modern one). And I certainly don't think that it should be ranked higher than Citizen Kane or The Shawshank Redemption. It is, indeed, an remarkable accomplishment for Peter Jackson and co. They've created a powerful epic (I know, it's such a cliche), focused equally on style and substance, and is overall fun to watch. The visual effects and set designs were stunning, groundbreaking, and almost overwhelming. The acting was also very good, especially Elijah Wood and Ian McKallen. The Orcs, the Balrog, and all the monsters were just damn cool. However, although I said it is fun to watch, I personally think the books are bit more fun. There is a strange charm that inhabits Tolkien's novels that the makers of the movie seemed to miss. They were more hell-bent on inserting action sequences every two seconds than fulfilling Tolkien's vision. I guess I did expect it to be a bit different from the novels, but I'm just sayin'... Also, I thought some scenes were a tad stretched out, especially the last 30 minutes of it. There were many times that I stretched, getting ready to get up and leave the theatre because I thought the "ending music" was cued in. But then, THERE WAS MORE! Overall, I felt it was worth my six dollars, despite the couple of minor complaints above, and I am definitely anticipating the next two installments, The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003). By the way, whatever you do, don't be late if you see this movie. You'll see why. *** / ****
Rating:
Summary: One of the best films ever
Review: I won't bother going into depth, who bothers reading these anyways? ;)
But this film is a truely fantastic, one of the best films ever created!
All I need to do now is purchase a copy of the DVD extended edition.
Which won't be for awhile, as it is a tad bit expensive!
But I'm sure it's well worth it :)
Rating: 
Summary: Only 3 stars? You bet, but's it's not the movie's fault...
Review: I won't go into a long detailed analysis or description of the movie. If you're interested in the movie, you've probably read the books, if you've read the books you'll like the movie despite some characters and text eliminated. It's a great movie. The movie isn't the problem, it's the DVD of the movie. Two discs with lots of extra stuff, one of the main extras? One of the things they go out of their way to promote? The 10-minute preview of the super-duper four disc DVD edition of the movie you've just purchased... Is it me? Am I the only one that finds this insulting? So, basically what they're saying is: "Gee, thanks for your money! Be sure to buy the GOOD version when it comes out in November!" Save your money, rent this movie, enjoy the extras and wait for the "REAL" DVD in November.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the film version!
Review: I won't go into describing what the film is about, instead I'll focus on the extended version. This is by far the better version than the past DVD or the film. There is more of a completeness to the film and the added scenes just flow even better with Tolkien's vision. For example it begins with Bilbo explaining Hobbits which was a very nice touch, right away you feel more for the main characters. And Hobbits sing in this version! More is revealed in Aragorn's dilemma and anguish and so on. You really get a sense that maybe Tolkien had a hand in guiding Peter Jackson in this newly edited version. And there is a whole lot of additional material that blows away all others bonus materials. I only know of 2 DVDs, this being one and the Matrix being the other that validates why I bought a DVD player.
Rating:
Summary: Very long but very worth it
Review: I won't lie... Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Ring is almost 3 hours long. But the detail to the story is well received in each minute. Almost every detail that is in the book is in the movie. It's not all jumbled together like a lot of the times when a book becomes a movie. Everything about Lord of the Rings is AWESOME! The story, the sets and costumes, the action scense and of course the visuals (a lot of Special Effects eye candy in this one). Also, the dialogue and acting is very good. No one in this one is stiff as a board like some movies. All of the actors and actresses become their characters, it's very cool. Now again, it might bother some people that this is almost 3 hours long. I can assure you that it won't be a wasted 3 hours. Plus there are a lot of extra features on the DVD set that are also pretty cool to watch. Check out Lord of the Rings!
Rating:
Summary: Buy this one, not the regular 2-disc set!
Review: I won't repeat all of the glowing words that others have already said about this dvd... But, if you're trying to figure out which dvd to buy, get this one and not the 2-disc set. The extra 30 minutes makes the movie so much better, and flow so much more! ('Concerning hobbits' is a great outtake that really gives those not familar w/ the story a good background about what drives the main characters on, and why the quest is so unusual for creatures like hobbits!) I'm not a superfan, but did love Tolkien's works before seeing the movie. The extra footage dvd really represented the original work much more; I didn't think it was missing anything when I saw it in the theatre, but realized it was so much better when seen w/ the new footage. The extra footage isn't expanded fight scenes or unnecessary filler (like some dvds)-- this is really story-building stuff about the characters. I haven't even looked @ 3rd & 4th dvds-- I bought the set only for the extended footage (and its worth it, just for that!)
Rating:
Summary: Full-Screen is a waste of your time.
Review: I won't review the film. That's been done enough. What I will say is that you should not even THINK of watching this film in fullscreen. The scope is so great, the cinematography so wonderful, that you are being cheated by fullscreen. It's time to grow up, understand that fullscreen CUTS OFF half of the movie and that WIDESCREEN is the only way to see everything, and get over the "black bars". Seriously- If you watch this movie in fullscreen, you're a complete fool, and you should have your movie-watching rights taken away. The only excuse for watching fullscreen is if your television is 13" or smaller. Otherwise, grow up and join us in the world of widescreen where things are better, and the WHOLE movie is on your screen, rather than half of it.
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