Rating: 
Summary: Fantasy in epic proportions
Review: The film "The Lord of the Rings" takes the viewer on a trip through time and to another world. The backdrops and locations are stunning and breath-taking and the actors were superbly cast. Director Peter Jackson knew that he was taking a beloved story to the big screen and that there were only 2 possible outcomes - fans of the Tolkien trilogy would either cringe in horror and ridicule him for destroying, defiling and making a mockery of the story, or he would be hailed as a movie-making genius. Jackson strove for the latter and succeeded.The movie is LONG - 178 minutes long, to be exact, but you'd never know it. You get so absorbed into the story, the length is just right. If it were any shorter, the viewer would feel cheated. The characters are rich - wizards, halflings, giant ogres, elves, you name it... but the characters are not there just for visual entertainment - they are there as integral parts of the story. A struggle of good against evil is the epitome of the story. The good are few - not perfect, but good and tender hearted. Those that are evil are truly that - evil. The story's hero, Frodo (played perfectly by Elijah Wood), is an innocent bystander who happens to be in the right place at the wrong time, but he bravely and happily volunteers to destroy the ring - the ring of power that will enable evil forces to conquer the world of Middle Earth. Along his journey, Frodo meets friends and enemies, and all struggle against the ring's alluring power. The DVD does honor to the film by presenting it in 2 discs, jam-packed with features such as a 10-minute behind-the-scenes feature of "The Twin Towers," the 2nd part of the Trilogy to be released in just 4 months.
Cast interviews, multiple featurettes covering integral storylines, in depth documentaries and more. Take a lesson, Hollywood - this is how you package a DVD. I highly recommend this film - and having it on DVD is a life-long investment for your entertainment collection.
Rating:
Summary: A TIMELESS MASTERPIECE
Review: Before i wrote a review for this movie i wanted to see it again thinking mybe i was just captivated by the beauty of the special FX or the the amazing 6.1 sound track, For the longest time i considered "The godfather" to be the finest movie ever made and i thought i would never see another movie that would come close to it's genius. When the "Fellowship of the ring" came out in the movies i regrettably did not go to see it thinking it wood be just another hollywood money making flop. After watching this movie twice i can say with out a doubt this is indeed in my opinion the best movie ever made!, I am no a fan of the book but i do intend to read it, This movie has everything you need to make it a classic Superb acting Amazing story remarkable visuals and the sheer scale of this movie is something i've never seen before in any movie, In my opinion Peter Jackson was robbed of the oscar he deserves as were the actors. As for the quality of the DVD it's A+ in my book, The picture quality is exellent sharp crisp this movie is beautifully shot from beginning to end, The 6.1 EX sound track is amazing at all times in the movie the sound effects come from all speakers from a quiet wind blowing across hobbit shire to the intense battle in the dwarf mines those of you who have high end audio systems are in for a treat this DVD is LOAD and i mean LOAD it's the best 6.1 sound track i ever herd. I don't really have much to say about the special features on the DVD because Since i never buy a DVD for the features but you get a great 10 minute trailer for the second film in the trilogy "The two towers" and a host of other neat feature combine to make this a exellent must own DVD, And when the extended version DVD comes out it will be added to me collection as well and when "The two towers" comes out this December I will be first in line to see it.
Rating:
Summary: Captivating
Review: This is a great story which will hold captive your attention from start to finish even in its slow moments. Superb acting by Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood. Perfect cinematography. This is definately a masterpiece for your collection.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant .Amazing
Review: I'm not gonna spend too much time on this because everybody has already pointed out every amazing aspect of this film If you've read the books, you'll love it. If you haven't, you'll still love it. Simply amazing. i recommend getting both versions.
Rating:
Summary: TOLKIEN IS HOBBIT-FORMING!
Review: This film was phenomenol. It did not quite live up to the books, but that would have been an accomplishment beyond comprehension. Peter Jackson has made himself a masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Lord of the Rings is the DVD of the new milennium!
Review: Oh. My. GOD!! How good is this movie?! Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen are extraordinary as Frodo and Gandalf! When the cast is in the forests, you can actually smell the dank trees and the musty ground!! Oh. My. GOD!!
Rating:
Summary: A Most Enjoyable Epic
Review: Having read the Ring trilogy every summer for many years, I entered this movie with trepidation. I mean, how on earth could the movie possibly live up to the characters and images I had created in my head? As I finished the movie, I was amazed at how quickly 3 hours had passed. And more amazingly was how truly thrilled I was by this movie. I wasn't even bothered by the fact that I'll have to see 2 more movies to see how well the director tells the rest of the story. The fact that so much attention to detail has been spent is obvious. From the lived-in look of the hobbit homes to the costumes of the characters, you feel totally immersed in this film. The only problems with this movie are some of the facts/events that were left on the cutting floor (after all, they already had 3 hours up there!) The signifigance of the cloaks given to the Fellowship, as well as the food they carry with them were deleted from the movie, but appear to be included with the extended cut movie. Save your money and wait for this edition to come out! And it should be released just in time for a viewing and then off to the theatre to see the next chapter! Great job Mr. Jackson!
Rating: 
Summary: Movie is great. DVD is not.
Review: My copy of this DVD just arrived in the mail today. The feature film is terrific... I saw it 6 (or maybe more, lost count) times in theatres. But, I am going to review the DVD. The style of the dvd, the featurettes, etc etc. The special features did not satisfy me much. The Two Towers preview was the only very interesting one on there, atleast for me, who has been keeping up with Lord of the Rings news for the past year. Many of the features tell about things most Lord of the Rings fans know, and things that many people (pardon me if I am wrong) who are not Lord of the Rings fans wouldn't be interested in. As for the menus, they are interesting and elegant, with beautiful background music. And the scene-viewing selection is great (in terms of where you can select a certain scene in the movie to view), with very precise scenes, it's like, every 5 minutes they inserted a tab so you could flip there if you so desired. Getting exactly where you want. This film also transferred well to a small screen (and I mean a small screen... our living room television is a foot by a foot, without surround sound or any of that ritz). Of course, it is slightly less easy to be [drawn]into the film to the same wonderful degree than it is on silver screen, especially on such a small tv as I have viewed it, but in some ways there are benefits. It's less... in your face, which has it's advantages and it's disadvantages. It is easier to keep up with battlescenes that would seem chaotic or confusing on silver screen, and (this can be good or bad, depending) it is not as overwhelming on dvd. The movie itself deserves 5 stars, but the dvd doesn't in my opinion. I can hardly find it in my heart to give a disc set containing The Lord of the Rings:The Fellowship of the Ring anything less than a 5, but, in my humble opinion, the DVD could have been much better. I personally plan on *renting* the extended DVD when it comes out, if I can get a hold of it. As Director Peter Jackson puts it in The Two Towers preview (not word for word, but something along these lines), 'Everyone hails "The Fellowship of the Ring" as a great, ground-breaking epic fantasy film, but, they haven't seen nothing yet' (concerning the next two films in the trilogy)
Rating:
Summary: A Guilty Pleasure that Sticks in my Craw
Review: I don't believe my viewpoint has ever been more polarized on a movie. There are two ways to approach reviewing this film and each leads to a very different conclusion. The first approach is to review from a purely cinematic point of view. Does Fellowship of the Ring work as a movie in and of itself? The answer is a resounding "yes." It is ripe with lush visuals, charged and touching emotion, directorial and performance excellence, richly detailed props and special effects that enhance rather than overshadow the story. Others have chosen this reviewing angle and so I will not expound upon its film-for-film's-sake virtues except to say that I liked it enough to have seen the film twice in the theater at full price. A full five stars from this perspective. But the second approach is to compare the movie to its challenging literary source material. Is Fellowship of the Rings an accurate interpretation of Tolkien's masterwork? The answer this time is a (just as resounding) "no." And not by a long shot. The film abounds with alterations to both the plot and motivation of its characters. So much so that I was literally on pins and needles throughout the film awaiting the next sacrilege. The pre-release press for Fellowship of the Rings paid heavy homage to director Peter Jackson's religious adherence to the source material. In light of this, I was appalled to see how often and how casually he departed from the book, even when there was no good excuse to do so. Certainly Jackson could not make an unabridged version of the novel without creating a 20-part series; but the argument that his every change was in the interest of condensing the story into an acceptable theatrical-length release just doesn't ring true. There was considerable material added to the film, the sole purpose of which was to either enhance the romantic relationship between Aragorn and Arwen, or increase the action-packed-thrills-n-spills aspect of the film. In both cases the film was made longer, not shorter, and in my opinion these additions (though perhaps to be expected) did not enhance the film enough to justify the omission of other more important source material. .... So as an accurate interpretation of Tolkien's work, Jackson's Fellowship fails to deliver. While in its essence and its generalities Jackson's version seems faithful to the original, in its details and in so many ways, it is anything but and earns only two stars in this respect. I know it sounds like I hate this movie; I don't. My rating of 4 is an average between my rating of 5 in the film-for-film's-sake review and 2 in the film-as-interpretation review. There can be no doubt that Fellowship is a rip-roaring modern-style action/adventure/fantasy tale--a true classic in the genre--but any Tolkien fan not willing to accept this movie on those terms is bound to be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Almost as good as seeing it on the big screen!!!
Review: Since I originally reviewed this movie when it first came out this review will cover the DVD aspects. Plus what else can be said that hasn't been said before about the movie? This has got to be one of the best movies ever produced from a book. After reading the books many times I can safely say I was not one bit disappointed in Peter Jackson's vision. The DVD has, of course, many benefits. The crystal clear clarity, the sound options, the ability of one to pick scenes to go to. You know, the normal stuff. Where this DVD takes off is the amount of special features. The second disc is 2 hours of special features, from trailors to special reports to the making of the movie to the music video, etc. It also covers the fact that in November they will be releasing the "expanded edition" which adds 30 minutes of cut footage and new music. Since I didn't know that would be available until AFTER I bought this I was a little miffed at first. But then I realized I wasn't going to be able to wait to buy this anyways so it really didn't matter. I have had this DVD for 2 days and have been glued to the tube since. If you possibly can wait until November then I would recommend purchasing the expanded version. From the decription on Amazon it will be awesome. If you're like me, then what the heck, buy now and buy in November. Peter Jackson will thank you.
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