Rating: 
Summary: A CHILDREN'S CARTOON ON STEROIDS
Review: In this Hollywood version of Lord of the Rings, Tolkien's story becomes a loud, cartoonish Hollywood action story, a cinematic heir of the Schwarzenneger and Stallone action films. The only difference is that instead of having muscular pumped-up action heros this movie has funny-looking people dressed up as elves and hobbits. All of these films are as subtle as an orc-axe to the head, and as loud as a lava explosion from Mount Doom. This is a film in which good and evil are helpfully color-coded: the good guys are white and appear in bright sunlight riding white steeds, and the bad guys are usually dark, ride black horses, wear ugly warrior uniforms, and appear in dark shadows.Much of the film feels like a copy of Star Wars, with Frodo taking the Luke Skywalker role and Gandolf taking the part of Obi-Wan Kenobi, the ring standing in for the Dark Side, and so on. But unlike Star Wars, Shrek, and many other great high-tech films, the Fellowship of the Ring doesn't understand that characterization has to precede special effects. As a result, this Lord of the Rings is empty spectacle that is little more than noisy eye candy. Lord of the Rings does not create a magical feeling -- too many things look like something you'd pass during a ride at Disneyworld. The special effects cannot measure up to the grand scale that the mind's eye can conjure when reading Tolkien's novels. There's not enough human interest to make us identify with the quest that is at the center of the film. And what's going on with that dwarf character, whose hackneyed Scottish looks (red beard, angry eyes, etc.) and accent (could he trill his Rs more without choking?) are like a bad Mike Myers "Fat Bastard" imitation? Even the score to this film is unoriginal, ranging from cliched pseudo-Irish pipe music during pastoral scenes to creepy sounding gothic music blatantly stolen from the Omen for the scenes involving marauding evil creatures. If you like your entertainment loud, cartoonish, visually assaultive, and full of mayhem, this is your movie. Otherwise, look elsewhere. By the way, this movie probably should have been rated R for its intense violence, so parents beware.
Rating: 
Summary: Greatest DVD of all time!
Review: In what has to be the greatest DVD box set ever produced for a single film, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring: Extended Edition takes a great film and lovingly improves it to a phenomenal level of perfection. Upon first viewing the theatrical version on it's opening day of release, I was immediately in love with the first film of this trilogy. The expertise and care in adapting the wonderful Tolkien book into film was amazing, producing one of the best adaptations of all time. It made me fall in love with movies all over again, like Star Wars did for me at a young age. After a few months of digesting it and seeing it repeatedly, I decided that it had to take top spot as my favorite film. Each time after viewing it, I couldn't bare to watch anything else for days since it would pale in comparison to Fellowship. Well, I now found a film that squashes that theatrical version: The Extended Edition. The addition of 30 extra minutes is seamlessly woven back into the fabric of this masterpiece with a new orchestrated score. And the results are amazing. There are no big action scenes added, nothing that changes the plot, just simple character development that makes the world of Middle Earth come even more alive. The film's so authentic and detailed it seems like this place must exist somewhere on Earth. Smaller characters such as Merry, Pippin, Legolas and Gimli are further fleshed out, and the inclusion of Frodo and Sam witnessing of a group of wood elves on their way to leave Middle Earth forever gives the film a stronger sense of melancholy. It proves early in this story that Middle Earth will not be the same ever again. Such small inclusions really pack an additional wallop in the audience's emotional involvement. So much so I can't imagine ever watching the theatrical version again. What makes this so special is that often when an excellent film is expanded for the home video market, the added material is usually better left out. Longer versions of movies such as Star Wars, Apocalypse Now Redux and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (excluding the recent director's cut) only hurt the film. But this Fellowship edition provides the shinning example of how an extended version can be far and away superior to the original. I rarely include discussion on special features in my reviews, but here I cannot avoid it. This DVD's special features surpasses anything ever done in the short history of DVD. There are hours and hours of additional viewing, exploring every step of the movie's creation. Everything from the history of J.R.R. Tolkien to post production is extensively covered here. The production of this trilogy is the most documented filmmaking experience in history, and the DVD takes full advantage of it. With almost 30 hours of extras, you'll feel like you were on set with director Peter Jackson for the four years that went into making The Fellowship of the Rings. For anyone that enjoyed the theatrical version of Fellowship and those looking for an extensive study on what goes into making a major motion picture, this DVD is an absolute must-buy. You will not be disappointed. This gets my all-time highest recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: Cinematic brilliance of epic proportions.
Review: In what is surely the most enduring of fictional tales, The Lord of The Rings steels itself in the hearts & minds of the common-folk as a remarkable tale of good vs. evil. The acting is, without question, outstanding. Elijah Wood as Frodo stands in stark contrast to Woods' previous efforts, playing the unlikely hero with the odds stacked intimidatingly against him. The villains, truly ominous characters on a level that I'm not certain has ever been captured on the big screen. The cinematography is breathtaking and delivers you to a time and place where fantasy and reality melt into one and manages to hold rapture all who behold it's splendor. The directorial effort put fourth for this film is indeed unparalelled in cinema history. Impeccable timing, absolutely thorough plot review and eminating the kind of awe and charm that makes fantasy every bit worth the experience. And that, my friends, was simply the theatrical trailer...
Rating:
Summary: THIS MOVIE IS A TRUE LEGEND FOR MY GENERATION!
Review: Incredible image, sound (great job DTS). I watch this movie every weekend waiting for january 2, the premier of The Two Towers en my city. AMAZING, THE BEST PICTURE OF 2001, 2002 AND 2003.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Movie
Review: Incredible Story +
Regular adaptation +
Excellent Cast +
Excellent Special Effects +
Excellent Marketing Campaign
= Awesome Movie Movie of the year for three years in a role, wanna bet?
Rating:
Summary: Go See It NOW!!!
Review: Incredible, fascinating, majestic!!! Transport yourself into Middle-Earth, a land of hobbits, elves, dwarfs, and humans (just to touch the surface of the multiple layers of characters in this movie). This is THE CLASSIC QUEST of the century. Frodo, the hero of this classic tale, becomes the unwitting owner of the One Ring, forged by Sauron, the Dark Lord, to rule all the Rings of Power. You journey with Frodo and his compadres as they attempt to destroy the ring in the Cracks of Doom. This story has it all - drama, comedy, battle. J.R.R. Tolkien must be cheering from the heavens as his story has become an on-screen masterpiece!
Rating:
Summary: Best Novel of Our Time
Review: Initially, I wasn't sure if I should watch it as I thought it would just be like some typical fantasy movies. I'm glad I did. Lord of the Rings is an adaptation of a novel written over half a century ago and of an epic world created by a man who had the biggest imagination ever. The costumes and make up were most very believable. Were you able to tell that some characters were filmed live sized but incoporated into the film as dwarfs? No wonder it won 4 Oscar awards for Makeup, Music (Score), Cinematography, and Visual Effects!
Rating:
Summary: A great movie deserves a great DVD...
Review: INTRO: First of all, I would like to point out that this DVD is spectacular (the Widescreen that is), and a movie of this calibur deserves it. Second, I would like to point out the length of the movie...yes, everyone knows its about 3 hours long (and if you don't, then now you do) and most will be a little bored if you're not familiar with this movie or J.R.R. Tolkien's works. The book was long, so the movie is too. If you are a total action nut, then maybe this isn't the movie for you. You have to understand the beauty as well, and at least have matured your movie expectations beyond Fast and the Furious and Matrix.
--------------------------------
PLOT: The plot of the movie...is well...unique. If you are familiar with the prequel to this movie/book "The Hobbit" then you are at least somewhat aware who Gandalf and Bilbo are and why they have such a long-lasting friendship. Also, you'll be familiar with the magic "ring" Bilbo discovered when he was younger if you watch The Hobbit. But anyways, the plot of this movie switches the view from Bilbo to Frodo, his grandson. This movie (Fellowship of the Ring) is the first in the trilogy of the "Lord of the Rings" and don't expect everything to be wrapped up in just this volume...although a lot will be explained. Without ruining too much, this movie is about discovering the true purpose of the magic ring that Bilbo discovered o' so long ago. I would rate the plot top-notch for fantasy, and extrememly well-put for any other plot line. The scenery in this movie is to be noted. It was filmed mainly in New Zealand, by Peter Jackson...so there is a lot of beautiful mountain ranges and such to be seen...you'll hardly believe its just on one area of the planet. A lot of computer generation and "blue screening" is used as well to make Hobbits and Dwarves look smaller than their environment and peers, but this is high-rate computer generation (a rare thing today) so you won't notice and it'll keep you guessing on how they did it.
--------------------------------
DVD: Ok, now that I got through most of the plot (even though it would take me a few pages to go through everything I wanted to) now I should mention the DVD itself. I, myself, bought the WIDESCREEN EDITION which is superior to the FULL SCREEN EDITION in almost every aspect. You get to see more of the screen, and its not shrunk down to an annoying level to make viewing difficult. The menus on the DVD are magnificent and I couldn't have thought of a better one myself, but there is one minor minor beef with it though. On the first disc (the Feature Disc), there is an "extras" option in the menu, but when you select it you are given a message saying "Please Insert Disc 2", which kind of makes you wonder why they even put it on the first disc to begin with. I don't care really so its no biggy.
--------------------------------
EXTRAS: The extras aren't really "super-abundant" but the ones that are there are pretty cool and are worth mentioning. There are a few TV Specials that are pretty interesting and a lot of little clips that tell how they made the movie. Also some actor interviews and some trailers. People complain that there isn't a "Two Towers" trailer, but you can see just about everything the trailer has to offer in the "Behind the Scenes of Two Towers" preview... (Two Towers is the next movie in the trilogy if you didn't know). --------------------------------
OVERALL: Overall, I would only recommend this DVD if you are just a fan of the basic edition of the movie. Why do I say this? Well, even though the movie is 3 hours long, they still removed a lot of essential stuff from it. If you are a hardcore fan of the movie that needs all of the cut scenes and 2 discs full of extras (including the Two Towers trailers), then I would wait for the "Extended Edition" that is coming soon. The Extended Edition will be 4+ hours and will bear 4 total discs to get its point across that this movie definitely gets what it deserves on home video. The Widescreen Edition is only for people that want the short version (as long as it is) of LOTR. All in all...GET THE EXTENDED EDITION in November!!
Rating: 
Summary: bored of the rings?
Review: Is it just me who doesn't get what all the fuss is about? Personally I never liked the books, all three where over long and full of flat 2D characters, in that sense you could say that this has been a faithful adaptation, As its way way over long and goes nowhere, they could have ended the film about an hour or so before hand and still finished the story in the same place. Yes we all know the special effects in this movie were fantastic, as they where, but I've never thought that special FX made a movie only enhanced it. On watching this movie I could not help but feel that a lot of viewers, namely the ones who write the reviews that start with things like "dazzling CGI" or "breathtaking FX" where so transfixed by the Computer imagery that they didn't notice the story line was paper thin and the acting was almost nonexistent. In my eyes this is no master piece or a classic as some other reviewers have said, Its a very weak film with some good effects. I believe time will tell on this movie as it did on Titanic.
Rating:
Summary: The most entertaining film I've seen in a long time
Review: Is it the best movie of all time? Probably not, but its certainly one of my own personal favourites. Its received a lot of bad publicity in the british press, but most of these reviewers are willing to admit to their narrow mindedness up front with revealing statements as to the true nature of their objections(eg 'a film that appeals to the computer games generation' or 'I've never been a fan of the fantasy genre') Forgive my cynicism, but its always been the hallmark of the intellectually insecure and pretentious to take a stand point contrary to popular opinion purely because it works outside ones own area of interest, or perhaps to further their own agendas and generate more publicity for themselves. The film is simply a brilliant cinematic experience. From the sweeping landscapes, to the brilliant characterisations, and the roaming camera perspectives. The panning shots around Isengard and the opening prologue were particularly clever and well executed. The themes so important to the success of the book - camaraderie in the face of overwhelming circumstance, innocence and innocence lost - come through strongly without being overly sentimental. Ian McKellan gives an outstanding performance as Gandalf the gray - a wizard has never been portrayed so convincingly in film before. An effort which is only equaled in my mind, by Ian Holm's often overlooked performance as Bilbo Baggins - truely magnificent. Thats not to say the film is completely without flaws, I think almost everyone agrees that Hugo Weaving(who is a great actor in his own right)was probably miscast as Elrond, and for my money, Cate Blanchet's portrayal of Galadriel was possibly a bit too cold and ethereal for its own good. But I understand that may be rectified in the DVD director's cut which shows a far greater range of Blanchett's acting talents. Of course you can't talk about this movie without mentioning the special effects. I was stunned, not so much by the quality, which was comparabe to an industrial lights and magic project, but for the fact that it came from a small New Zealand operation. I just never realised the talent and technology had been refined to that point in that part of the world (I lived there for sometime and have always worked in related industries, so I think I am giving a fair assessment.) The only other criticism I've heard is that the action scenes are possibly a bit hard to follow. I feel this comes down to personal tastes, Peter Jackson isn't John Wu, but by the same merit the Fellowship of the Rings is not an action movie and I think the stylised action scenes complemented the story well. At any rate, I certainly don't hear the same complaints about Gladiator which used a similar visual style. So I'd just like to say, 'thank you Peter Jackson'. You've created a masterpiece of modern cinema, one which will be remembered long after its critics are dead and forgotten, a wonderful legacy that parallels Tolkein's own struggle and achievements in life.
| 
