Rating: 
Summary: ...three movies to bind them......
Review: Holding people spellbound was what J.R.R. Tolkien did best by writing a story that had thousands of years of back story and multitudinous cultural short stories that surround it.Peter Jackson's translation of it to film is very good. When I originally read the books, I never caught the relational nuances between the characters, but this film painted for me a portion of the story that I had an inability to visualize. The weight of the burden carried by the main character of the film is masterfully exposed in the film as opposed to the book, where, if I recall correctly, Frodo simply states that it is wearing on him. In translation, Jackson expanded on the sketchy vision of the ethereal world that Tolkein laid out for his characters who wear the One Ring. In the film when Frodo places it on his finger, he is instantly immersed in a parallel world in which spirits have substance and the world he left behind is but a faint shadow. A violent wind constantly blows across a stark black and white terrain, and the nearly blind and shrouded black riders are revealed as ancient shining kings. I do not remember Tolkein fleshing this out as well as Jackson does. The book and the movie place a great deal of emphasis on the Ring. But what the movie does that is subtle, but laudable, is to de-emphasize the portrayal of power bound in all the other unusual objects in Tolkein's fantasy. Instead, Jackson integrates their mystical powers with the characters who carry them, never bothering to point out the inherent qualities of the character versus that of the item they carry. (I do not have room in this review to please the purists who would argue about the sword of Isildur and the light of Galadriel). In short, it expands Middle-Earth (the world setting of the books and the films) into one of flesh, blood, and tears while letting the mysticism seem less otherworldly. However, if you just don't get it (morality plays in a fantasy setting), you won't like it.
Rating:
Summary: The Wonders of Middle-Earth
Review: The fate of Middle-earth lies in the hands of Elijah Wood in the grand fantasy epic "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring". When the forces of evil storm the mystical realm of Middle-earth to reclaim the Ring of the Dark Lord, Sauron, the brave Frodo (Elijah Wood) and the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring that could doom the land. With the help of a fellowship of good freinds and powerful allies, Frodo faces incredible dangers and the fierce minions of the Dark Lord. The film is an astonishing and superb epic tale of good versus evil. Director Peter Jackson delivers the wonders and emotional intensity of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic with such stunning amazement. The movie includes exceptional performances by Viggo Mortensen, Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett and Ian McKellen as Gandalf. The film also contains amazing special effects, beautiful backgrounds and a rich music score. "The Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring" DVD earns my vote for best DVD of the year. Presented in a Fullscreen format, the DVD has a superb and flawless picture quality. The Dolby Digital sound is breathtaking. If special features are a must then this DVD is a welcome addition to any collection. It contains numerous behind-the-scenes featurettes, trailers including a preview of the upcoming "The Two Towers", a music video, DVD-ROM extras and stunning animated menus. Overall, this DVD scores an "A".
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, but get the Platinum version
Review: This movie is excellent and this will probably end up being the best trilogy ever made - better than Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Police Academy (ok, forget that last one). However, the platinum version coming out Nov 2002 has over half an hour of cut scenes and is a 4 disc set - wait for the platinum version.
Rating:
Summary: ...[the best]...
Review: Talk about sheer power and loyalty to the book!! This film's a winner from the get-go. I read the trilogy years ago, and watching it unfold before my eyes was mesmerizing, and the characters were as truly inspiring as Tolkien's writing. I would have liked to have seen more of Gollum, however, but I'm sure that's to come, and I am in anticipation of owning this film for my own. ...
Rating:
Summary: Excitement Awaits!
Review: The Lord of the Rings is now my favorite movie. It has a lot of excitement and action. I have read the books and thought that The Lord of the Rings was fantastic , but when I saw the movie The Fellowship of the Ring it sent me to Tolkiens Middle-Earth.
The orcs and the cave troll in the movie looked very real ,
and the actors did very splendid in the film. This movie deserves 5 stars because it is magnificent and followed the book very well. So that is why you must own the DVD today. Peter Jackson has done a wonderful job on this film. So buy it for DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Excitement At Its Height!
Review: The Lord of the Rings : The Fellowship Of The Ring is SO FAR my favorite movie , as I have not seen the other two trilogy films yet , The Two Towers and The Return Of The King , which , in my opinion , will be AWSOME! The Lord Of The Rings : The Fellowsip Of The Ring has a lot of excitement and action. I have read The Lord Of The Rings books by J.R.R. Tolkien and thought that The Lord of the Rings was fantastic! But when I saw the movie "The Fellowship of the Ring" it sent me to Tolkiens Middle-Earth. The ringwraiths , the orcs , the cave troll , and the balrog in the movie looked very realistic and scary. The star actors did a very splendid job in the film. If I ever met them I'd shake there hands a thousand times and say thank you for making Middle-Earth come alive. This movie deserves more than 5 stars because it is magnificent and followed the book very well. So that is why you must own the DVD today. Peter Jackson has done a wonderful job on this film. So buy it for DVD. I can't wait till The Lord Of The Rings : The Two Towers and The Return Of The King comes out in theaters!
Rating: 
Summary: A good rendition for a 3 hr. timeslot
Review: I felt that this movie was a very good representation of the book and I enjoyed the cinematography VERY much. It was middle earth brought to life! Although, I must agree with some others that the movie was lacking something. Not being a fanatic and wanting basically the whole story to be conveyed in the movie (In which case The Fellowship movie alone would probably have a play time of 10 hours), I do feel that some certain scenes should not have been excised from the movie. All in all, adding these scenes would have only made the move 5 minutes longer, AND A LOT BETTER. Still, I feel that it is a very well done adaption of the book, and the plot of the movie cannot truely be judged until the other two parts of the trilogy come out. PS. I rather liked the ending to the Fellowship of the Ring. Despite what others may say, it gives a sense that not everything turns out like what we hoped for. Not all books, or movies have to end,"...and they lived happily ever after."
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie, however it didn't have the preview I wanted.
Review: The movie is great, great to have the DVD quality sound and picture. However the add-ons were a little dissapointing. First they have a prieview for the "Special Edition DVD". Which says to me that if I really want the good DVD, I have to buy another one. Plus it has some Fox and Learning channel shows that featured the making, but stuff I've already seen. Then I thought it would have the full Two Towers preview, but had a making of type preview that was fairly dissapointing. So my recommendation would be to wait for the Special Edition.
Rating:
Summary: Tolkien as a "Homer" for Our Age
Review: Peter Jackson in his masterful Fellowship of the Ring has succeeded in raising J.R.R. Tolkien's lifework almost to a Homeric status. Homer: the Literary Colossus whose powerful refrains were echoed and reverberated and expanded down the generations by future literary giants, such as Aeschylus, Virgil, Dante, Shakespeare and Goethe. The film version of the Fellowship of the Ring is the first great echo of Tolkien's work. If Tolkien is the "Homer", Jackson may be the aspiring "Aeschylus." Purists and fanatics may complain and carp about this or that -- about the absence of Bombadil, or the altered dialogue and sequences. But lets face it -- this thing is now beyond Tolkien, the publishers and us all. We are witnessing the the nascent birth and expansion of Mythos. Everything about this film rings true to the text. The setting for the Shire and the Middle Earth lands through which the characters travel is exactly as I had envisioned it in thirty-five years of reading. The character performances are astonishing -- especially that of Sir Ian McKellen, whose nuances of mood beutifully illuminate the role. Above all, the undergirding moral vision of the work is also true to the original. Some other random thoughts: 1. Jackson has boldly expanded the possibilities of filmmaking. Perhaps we now know how the first audiences of Sophocles felt, as he added a third actor to the Greek drama-thereby tremendously increasing the dramatic possibilities of the medium. The bold move to shoot all three films at once, the stunning visual effects, Jackson's loving attention to detail, all extend our vision and increase the capacity of the film medium itself.
2. What makes Tolkien's work so powerful is that it is a Text with Context. Most other works of fantasy are as thin as air, but Tolkien's lifetime of loving labor bestowed on the Silmarillion has given the Lord of the Rings a depth and substance unparalleled in literature. Jackson's film adaptation both draws upon and expands this rich bedrock of context. The unbelievable efforts at realism in every detail are all in harmony with Tolkien's approach to his work.
Rating:
Summary: A Gem, but not quite the same gem it was
Review: The Lord of the Rings is one of the best known fantasy stories of all time, and here is finally in a production that can do it justice. Most of the scenes are done brilliantly, using the beautiful and well-chosen landscape of New Zealand, which captures Middle Earth excellently. The cast was also well chosen, with especially good performance by Ian McKellen as Gandalf. There is only one quibble that I have with this movie: the old axiom "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Events were drastically changed during the chase on the way to Rivendell. The original version (which did not introduce the elf lady until after the chase) was much more gripping. Also, an element of mystery at the beginning of the story was lost... the original made certain that we had no clue what was going on until the Council, where we finally get the whole story. Ah well. It's still so utterly great that I would strongly reccommend buying it, as a DVD or a video.
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