Rating: 
Summary: An amazing movie - even if you're a die-hard fan of the book
Review: I have never watched any of the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings movies before. In junior high/early high school these were my favorite books and I read the trilogy 13 times!!! Plus biographies of Tolkien, etc. I always figured I would be disappointed by a movie version because it would look nothing like I imagined it.I never imagined I would see such a fabulous movie version of the Lord of the Rings. While the hobbits have their endearing moments (as they do in Tolkien's books) they are portrayed with a dignity I never expected from Hollywood. When I see maps, elvish script, the doors to Moria and other things that Tolkien drew pictures of for his books, the movie has been quite faithful to his designs. The movie is equally true to Tolkien's themes. More complex than a two-dimensional "good vs. evil" flick, the movie captures Tolkien's vision that the "good" things we pursue can twist us to evil purposes when these things are placed above the virtues. Men's love of power, the dwarves love of wealth and finely-crafted material things, the elves love of knowledge and beauty (and the hobbit's love of comfort and security) are potentially good but can also be their downfall. All these races can become corrupted when love for these things is placed above the higher goods of justice, courage, loyalty to each other, and genuine caring for our fellow beings. This theme is front-and-center in the movie - just as it is in Tolkien's books. Finally, the movie creates the same emotions I felt by reading the book. Frodo's anguish, the love between Aragorn and Arwen, the pride of Boromir and the dwarves - all capture the same flavor and feel. Even the feel of the landscapes. In some senses the characters may strike some viewers as caricatures. Well, to a great extent that was the intention of the artist. Tolkien created an epic saga patterned after the Norse, Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon epics (a professor at Oxford, Tolkien spoke all these languages fluently and began creating his own languages by the time he was five. He could fluently speak the language of any of the races in his books and created the languages BEFORE he created the Lord of the Rings epic). Like the classic epics, the emphasis was often on characterizing what it means to live by the virtues (especially in tragic situations when the virtues come into conflict), rather than portraying each character as a totally unique individual. If you don't like these kind of characters or the movie that's fine. But if you fault Tolkien or the movie as a lesser work on that basis then you've missed much of the point and purpose and depth of his creation. If you're interested in reading more about how ethics of the virtues differ from the kind of ethics that is most frequently taught in colleges and universities today (based on utilitarian, rights, or radical freedom of choice - and frequently some mutually-incompatible mish-mash of the three) then I highly recommend Alasdair MacIntyre's book *After Virtue* or his earlier book *A Short History of Ethics: a history of moral philosophy from the Homeric age to the twentieth century*. If most ethics or philosophy today seems academic and irrelevant then *After Virtue* may explain why you feel that way. MacIntyre argues that while 18th-20th century academics frame ethical questions in terms of utility or rights or radical choice, people today still frequently make real ethical choices based on much more fundamental notions of fairness, courage and caring for others. Once you grasp this difference, you may gain a deeper appreciation for what the Lord of the Rings portrays and for Tolkien's style.
Rating:
Summary: A true masterpiece. This generation's Star Wars.
Review: I have no problem at all comparing The Fellowship of the Ring to the original Star Wars. I feel that the Lord of the Rings films are and will be the Star Wars for this generation. Even though George Lucas is producing his second Star Wars trilogy right now, those films absolutely pale in comparison to Lord of the Rings. Comparing Fellowship of the Ring to The Phantom Menace is like comparing 2001: A Space Odyssey to Independence Day. The difference in quality is that huge. Fellowship of the Ring is a triumph of film making and storytelling in every respect. It is simply a perfect movie. Every detail, from the script to the actors, to the effects and production design, to music and photography, everything in this film is absolutely top of the line. Fellowship of the Ring is a far, far better movie than A Beautiful Mind and was far more deserving of the Best Picture Oscar. 2001 was a year that was filled with great films though, such as Mulholland Drive, The Royal Tenenbaums and Memento, but Fellowship was undoubtedly the most important and highest quality cinematic achievement of 2001. This 4-disc Extended Edition DVD is a must-own for fans of the films or the books. How do you improve on a movie that was already a top-of-the-line, five-star classic? Well, the Extended Edition does just that. Thirty minutes of scenes are added, fleshing out the story and presenting more of the detail that is prevalent in J.R.R. Tolkien's books. My favorite addition is the new opening scene featuring Bilbo writing his book and talking about the meager lives of hobbits. With these new scenes, Fellowship is pushed to a three and a half hour running time. However, watching this movie is no chore at all. It is engrossing from the first minute to the last. Everything, presentation-wise is perfect. The picture and sound are excellent. This DVD has probably the most beautiful picture I've seen (including Attack of the Clones). The real treat, however, are the extra features. Two whole discs worth. I have not made it through all of the extra material yet, but what I've seen is very enlightening and entertaining. The behind-the-scenes footage and interviews are very informative. Best of all are the four feature length commentaries by cast and crew members. I've only so far listened to the cast commentary, but it is a joy to hear. This splendid presentation could not have happened to a better film. The production of Lord of the Rings is one of the biggest, most complex and most important film shoots in movie history, and deserves to be documented as such. I hope that The Two Towers and Return of the King will recieve DVD editions as magnificent as this one. Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition gets my vote for Best DVD Release Ever.
Rating:
Summary: ASTONISHING, WONDERFUL, SUPERB, INCREDIBLE
Review: I have no words to describe how I felt while unpacking this wonderful gift set, bought for me by my wife. It was much above my expectations. When I saw it on the stores for the first time, I knew that was a special product, but when it arrived at my hands I discovered that it's much more than I could expect. Starting by the box of the DVD that is beautifully decorated with drawings. The menus are gorgeous, with great music and good animation. Everything well organized and the scenes added or extended are marked on the scene selection menu, allowing you to see exactly what's new on this version. There are lots of audio options that go from the simpler Dolby Surround to the DTS 6.1, with options for all kinds of equipments. There are also 4 commented soundtracks, which will drive you to a deep journey on how the movie was made. The National Geographic DVD that comes with this set is also good to any fan of J. R. R. Tolkien, the book and the movie. The statues (bookends) are great with lots of details and look good in your office bookshelf. If someone loves the movie and is a bit afraid about replacing the theatrical version of the movie by this one or just purchasing it, I will say that it's a great gift to yourself and at the end you will see that this was the best DVD ever seen.
Rating:
Summary: I am treading a very fine line here...
Review: I have not seen the movie for several months and that may cause my review to be a little inaccurate, as I am sure I have forgotten or left out some of the good things about the movie. All I can do at this point is to say what I remember most clearly - the best and the worst things about The Fellowship of the Ring.
I think that the first thing that springs to mind when watching LOTR is the utter cinematic beauty and magic of the spectacle before our very eyes. I could watch LOTR over and over again just to savor this emotion, and I would still not be bored, because you will always find something new to delight you on every viewing. For that reason alone, I give this movie 5 stars. There are very few movies in the world today that I feel this way about. Having said that, there are many faults with this movie that become increasingly clear every time you watch it. The screenplay is in my opinion the most glaring of these. It is not so much the style of the dialogue, which manages to mirror that of the book very well, as the fact that at certain times in the movie the dialogue simply doesn't make any sense. I have read and re-read Tolkien's masterpiece and while I don't consider myself a purist, I do object to characters' personalities and perspectives being changed for no real reason. And I'm not talking about Arwen either. I'm talking about the way Elrond talks about Aragorn, the man who was supposed to be more like a son to him, and the way in which Aragorn seems strangely, inexplicably unwilling to become king of Gondor, something for which he has supposedly been preparing for about 70 years. I am also unsure what Jackson thought he was doing making Saruman out to be some sort of servant of Sauron, when the book clearly states that Saruman wanted to have the ring all for himself and had absolutely no intention of giving it up to Sauron.
Or why Merry and Pippin had to act like such complete idiots (other than to provide comic relief, that is). In fact this last point puzzled me; those two weren't the smartest hobbits around, but they were by no means [that bad], as they manage to prove in the later books. Jackson's now going to have to change their personalities in the movies if he wants to stay true to the books. Having said all that, I have to admit that almost without exception the cast did a fantastic job with what they were given. The credit has to be given however, for standout performances: Ian Holm as Bilbo, Ian McKellen as Gandalf, Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn, Sean Bean as Boromir, Sean Astin as Sam and Liv Tyler as Arwen. These were the main characters who stood out when I watched the movie for the first time. I could go on nitpicking things here and there, like how some of the CGI down in Moria looked decidedly fake, how there was absolutely no need for Bilbo to grow fangs like Jack Rabbit, how they could have improved Galadriel's...um...transformation, and so on. But I won't. Sure the movie has its faults, but then what movie doesn't? And the fact that the movie is not perfect and yet has managed to secure a place in so many people's hearts somehow makes me hold LOTR in higher esteem. Like another reviewer said, it is a masterpiece, even if it is a flawed masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Lord of the Movies!!!
Review: I have noticed that many movies that are based off of books don't do a very good job of it, but Fellowship of the Ring was awesome! The special effects were great and the movie didn't stray much from the book's story line. It was an excellent movie.
Rating:
Summary: A great movie made even better
Review: I have now seen this movie 14 times, Theater-2, PPV-2, DVD-7, ExtDVD 3. I really commend Peter Jackson and the editing crew for doing a great job of cutting the movie to theatrical length. The extra footage in the ExtDVD is wonderful, but the theatrical version did not suffer excessively without it. I found myself stopping the ExtDVD several times to replay new scenes, most notably: The Council of Elrond; The entrance to Lothlorien (I am dying to know what Gimli said to Haldir); The Lament for Gandalf. Real fans should buy the ExtDVD. However, if you didn't LOVE the movie, I don't think the ExtDVD will change your mind.
Rating:
Summary: THIS WAS AWESOME!!
Review: i have one word for you: Legalos!!! this was an undenialably awesome movie. the effects were great and the casting was SUPERB excpet for elijah wood as froto. what a great movie i would give it 10 stars if i could. this is a great movie. go see it and then pre-order your copy.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Movie!!! Best In Years!!!
Review: I have one word to sum up this movie: FANTASTIC!!! I saw the first version in the theater, but didn't really enjoy because there were too many gaps. There were things that did not make sense. I bought the expanded version on DVD, watched it and fell in love with it. It totally blows the theatrical version out of the water! I highly recommend this movie. Even for someone like me that has never read the books, the expanded version made so much more sense. It really gave more insight into each character. It felt as if I personally knew each character. Watch this movie!! You will love it!!!
Rating:
Summary: LOTR Rox My Sox
Review: I have only one thing to say about this movie - it's the best one I've seen in my life. Yeah, the DVD's not out yet, but it can only be better than the theatrical version, and that was undoubtedly the best [money] I've ever spent. BUY IT!...
Rating:
Summary: "You have only one choice"
Review: I have only one thing to say:
"You have only one choice, one of you- must buy the director's cut- with an extra 30 minutes of film, forget all the pricey distractions in deluxe sets on the way, and cast it into your DVD player for 3 1/2 hours of pure entertainment. All other options are usless, as we cannot use them".
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