Rating: 
Summary: A Travesty
Review: Great cinemaphotography, lush scenery, and great action scenes cannot and do not make up for the grevious deviations from the fundamentals of the story, plot and especially characterization. One reviewer noted that Peter Jackson did not show slavish devotion to the text and that is certainly true and understably so when taking such an epic and putting it onscreen, however at least trying to be somewhat true to the text would have been appreciated. Would it have killed the director to make the Council of Elrond a little more true and cerebral rather than a first grade shouting match. Aragorn is not the tortured soul in exile Jackson supposes him to be and what is the problem with him carrying the shards of Narsil? And the ridiculous stunts Saruman gets up to....words defy me and what was Galadriel on? And Arwen, a playful elf? Please! I agree that by movie making standards it is a great movie. I am pleased that it did not win best picture however, because although Peter Jackson has come closer than anyone else in putting Tolkien's epic on-screen he should have paid a bit more attention to the text, especially when it came to characterization, but then again getting characters right has never been his strong point.
Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding
Review: I've long been a fan of Tolkien's Middle Earth and an avid reader (scholar?) of his works, including those published in memorium by his son, Christopher. Let me say the following about this latest celluloid incarnation:This is, by far, a masterpiece. Other die-hards will no doubt lament the omission of tom Bombadil and select other minute details, but the seamless integration of computer animation, stellar acting, breath-taking scenery and pure genius of directing breathes life into Tolkien's world and doees justice to his long-standing classic. While best viewed on larger television/movie screens (the bigger the better, I assure you!) this movie will not fail to disappoint you. Case in point: my wife never enjoyed the book, finding it boring and disagreeable with her tastes in literature. After seeing this film in the theatres she is now hooked and reading my prized hard-cover edition voraciously. This movie gets two thumbs up. WAY up!
Rating:
Summary: Lord of the Rings-VHS
Review: Item arrived one week after order placed. It was shipped from Canada and had been opened by U.S. Customs for inspection (even the celophane wrapper) but the tape was not damaged and I enjoyed the movie. Excellent service by iNetVideo.com Good price too!
Rating: 
Summary: The Lord of the Rings
Review: This movie is highly overrated, too long, and boring.
Sometimes you could hardly hear the actors because the music was too loud. I fail to see what's all the fuss it about.
The special features DVD was better than the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Buy the MTV version
Review: The dreadful mismash could only be understood by Tolkien Twits. It is dark and vague and wanders around without any real thread of plot. This lengthy and slow tale is beautifully filmed but lacks any substance. If you have nothing but re-runs of Gilligan's Island watch Gilligan. It will cost you brain cells but at least you will be entertained.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent piece of work.
Review: While Jackson is neither a true artist nor a madman (except for the fact he did undergo the tedious process of creating three epics in two years), he managed to successfully juggle all that is the recreation of a classic fantasy novel. While lacking that certain 'closure' of a stand-alone feature, and at times being a tad too tedious and slow, it successfully crams a great deal of Tolkien's work of the first part of the Lord of the Rings novel, the Fellowship of the Ring. For some reason, this movie just feels right. The cast, the props, the effects, etc.. they all feel appropriate and very well done. On this dvd set you get to see a number of featurettes which include interviews and numerous shots at the amount of armor and weaponry created for this film. The detail and work put into all of it is absolutely mind-boggling. Jackson definitely managed to go through a very long and hefty 'to do' list. The sets are also all great. Every room, every cave, every hillside, every pillar, every stream.. it's all great.
As Jackson mentioned in one of his interviews, he was afraid someone without the expertise in special effects would take a project like this. Sure, having started his film career with his home-brewn 'Bad Taste', having worked on all of it's effects and all of it's directing for four years on occassional weekends and days off... he sure has the patience and experience to tackle a project of this caliber and deliver marvelous effects without ever over-doing anything (except for Galadriel's power-hungry dark side scene, which was awful). Kudos to Jackson for a great movie, and kudos for the excellent dvd package which is all but lacking in features.
Rating:
Summary: Some one finally got it right!
Review: Yes, the movie was a dream of cinematography. Yes, they made mistakes, left out parts, made Frodo a bit wimpy. But they did a great job on packaging this onto DVD. Without watching the movie you can still spend hours being entertained by the cast members, documentaries, music and a great teaser for the next installment. Taking a book like Lord of the Rings and making it into a movie is a major gamble. There is no way to please everyone. Putting in half the stuff they left out in the first movie alone would make it 6 hours long. I am glad they're coming out with an extended version. They have a teaser for it on this DVD also so I know I'll be buying it too. Putting back some of the things left aside. The things they chose to leave out or change sometimes leaves me wondering. Having Arwen defy the Ringwraiths at the ford instead of Frodo takes away the watchers first real insight into the heart of a hobbit. But I'm not a filmmaker. I couldn't have made the decision to leave out Tom Bombadill or the barrow wights. I'm glad I didn't have to. I'm glad Peter Jackson got a chance to share his love of this story with the rest of us who love it too. I highly recommend purchasing this DVD for your collection. Even if you don't like fantasy, this film is beautifully composed, the countryside is epic, the action heroic and the characters... classic. Even with the departures from the novel you can tell there was a love of the story in the director's heart. Get it, enjoy it. Watch all the good stuff with it!
Rating:
Summary: Finally, my favorite book made real!
Review: With the many, many reviews written concerning this movie, there is little for me to add. I saw the movie in the theatre, but being deaf, had to wait until this came out for me to really enjoy it. I read the trilogy four times when I was younger. They could not have done a much better job bringing this to screen, and I can hardly wait until the next part of the trilogy. Thank heavens Peter Jackson had the intelligence to wait until the technology was such that he could make Lord of the Rings as it is written. McKellen as Gandalf is superb, Elijah Wood has an unbelieveably poignant face and mannerism (I never thought much of him as a child actor, but then maybe it was the choice of scripts he got and the directors?). His sadness at having to do such a hard task alone is enough to break your heart! Again, those of us with hearing loss enjoy films best when they are in letterbox format. The captioning that we need is then not interfering with the beauty and plot on the screen. I plan to wait until all three movies are out, and then I will get the boxed version with all the outtakes. One thing I must bring attention to...is for once, all the outtakes, the specials, etc. are captioned so I can enjoy them with my hearing family members. I really wish members of the directors and film communities would figure out that captioning of all parts of the DVDs make it worth while for us deafies to buy the blasted things. I was horribly disappointed with The Grinch since only the film itself was captioned!!!! I still maintain, if A Beautiful Mind had not been in the running, Lord of the Rings would have won much more at the Oscars. A truly beautiful movie. Karen Sadler
Rating:
Summary: Excellent DVD of a Great Movie
Review: I have seen The Fellowship of the Ring four times in theatres and now twice at home since purchasing the DVD on the first day it was available. I could watch it twice a day for the rest of my life and not get tired of it. You don't need to have read the book. The story explains itself admirably as it goes along. If there's something you don't understand, just be patient-- it will get explained eventually. Yet it isn't overexplained either-- very little pure exposition. I have only two complaints: (1) The movie is too short. (2) In remastering the soundtrack to issue the DVD they made the music too soft in comparison to the dialogue. One of the joys of the movie is the music, and there are times on the DVD where you can barely hear it. Some people have complained that the movie isn't faithful to the book. OK, yes, there are changes in detail, and some events have been left out. Yet the net effect is to tighten up the plot and better justify some later events that otherwise seem to spring out of nowhere in the books. I think Tolkien himself would have liked it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent adaptation
Review: Peter Jackson has done an excellent job on the first chapter of the Lord of the Rings, it's amazing how he managed to condense a epic book like this in the first movie of a trilogy that I'm sure will be seen as a clasic for years to come. I can't prise this masterpiece enough. Two Tumbs and Two Toes UP!!
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