Rating: 
Summary: Great High Fantasy
Review: There are few high fantasy or serious fantasy movies in existence. Of those that exist, even fewer are very good. "Conan the Barbarian" might be included in this very narrow genre, as well as Sword & Sorcery. "Ladyhawke" and "Excalibur" would probably both fit as well. In fact, many have considered "Ladyhawke" to be the best high fantasy movie prior to "Lord of the Rings"."Lord of the Rings" seamlessly blends indoor and outdoor sets with special effects to create the most incredibly believable fantasy world ever, setting a new standard of excellence for fantasy movies. The cinematography gets five stars plus. The actors were well-chosen for their parts. There has been some criticism of the humor that was injected into the movie both from the choice of actors and some of the lines. However, Tolkien had a very wry (and British) sense of humor that was frequently expressed in his novels. To have avoided that humor would have been to avoid one aspect of Tolkien. The special effects in this movie have set a new state-of-the-art. The flow between special effects and set effects is invisible. Probably the most evident special effect to me was the Balrog, which, while very good, still had somewhat of an animated feel to it. The effect was still good enough that you felt the fear of the characters and for the characters. "Run!" you wanted to yell...okay, I did yell run. The special effects are so good that I want to move to Middle Earth! The translation from the book to the movie was performed very well. The visualizations enhance the book well, and new dimensions are brought out in the movie that are difficult to visualize in the book. As always, the book and the movie are different, but they are different mediums as well. I was very impressed with how well the essence of the story was captured without trying to exactly mimic the books. I think Tolkien would have been impressed with the realization. This series of movies will be able to do what all other movies have not, tell a single story of incredible scope in 3 separate 3-hour movies, each released a year part. Only made-for-tv miniseries have previously had the luxury of such extended length. When I reached the end of this movie, my only disappointment was that I had to wait for two years to see it to the end. This movie is a must-have for any serious fan of fantasy, and for fans of Tolkien. Fantasy has for many years taken a backseat to the development of ever-better science fiction movies. With the release of this movie, the opportunity to create movies to match the vision of other great fantasy books can at last be realized.
Rating:
Summary: One of the BEST!
Review: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is one of my favorite movies. Clocking in at just under three hours, Fellowship never stops rolling, whether it be in the green pastures of the Shire, the beautiful city of Rivendell, or the dark, evil mines of Moria. Based on Tolkien's novel, this film by Peter Jackson should not be missed.
The movie tells the story of the One Ring, the ring that could destroy mankind. It centers around Frodo Baggins, the nephew of Bilbo Baggins, made famous by The Hobbit. Upon hearing from Gandalf the Grey what the ring really is, Frodo sets off on an adventure to destroy the One Ring in the fiery pits of Mount Doom. Frodo battles the Ringwraiths, countless Orcs, and even himself as the ring tries to take him over. The nine Ringwraiths are truly great villains without even saying a word. Even at three hours, the film is a nonstop ride through the Middle Earth.
Great roles for Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Kate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Orlando Bloom, and Sean Bean as Boromir, a man greatly tempted by the powers of the One Ring. Excellent musical score, incredible scenery, and likable characters. The DVD is unbelievable with too many extras to even count. Read Tolkien's novel for more backround information on the characters as well as the plot lines. A modern classic that shouldn't be missed!
Rating:
Summary: How to Kill 3.5 hours of your life and not regret it.
Review: This is simple:
-If you are even a casual Tolkien fan, this is nervana.
-If you are a Middle Earth geek, it's time to change your underwear!
-If you can't suspend reallity for even 20 minutes, don't bother.
-If you like extras, this is for you.
-If you didn't read the books, liked the movie, but did not quite get all of it, this will help you understand.
-If you are a busy parent of small children (as am I)it will get frustrating trying to find time to watch it (Until 2 AM!!).
-Well worth [$$] for those who really liked the original.
-I also have the original so that I can actually get to watch it more often.
-This DVD is top quality all around. Sound, picture Etc. not a concern.
Rating:
Summary: Secret Scene on Extended Edition
Review: I have viewed the film many times and stumbled on a secret scene. You find it on Disc One on the menu below scene 27. The way you select it is to keep pushing your DVD's selector downwards to select "New Scene" below scene 27. It should light up and you can select it. It is quite a funny scene from an MTV awards show (I think). It is a parody of the Council of Elrond and it is introduced by Peter Jackson. Enjoy this secret scene.
Rating:
Summary: The Lord of the DVDs....
Review: Chances are, if you're considering purchasing the[$$$] Extended Edition of "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring", you've already seen the theatrical release, thus, I won't comment on that release, since you can draw your own conclusions on the motion picture yourself. However, I will venture to say this is THE best DVD ever. "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition" contains over 30 minutes of added footage, which certainly adds to the picture as a whole. Nothing completely new (as in subplots, or new characters) is really introduced, rather the existing story and characters are fleshed out a bit. Highlights of the added footage include the elaborated Hobbit introduction, and the bestowing of gifts to the Fellowship by the dwarves. As far as supplemental material goes, there is a RIDICULOUS amount. One could easily spend 48 hours watching all of the featurettes, and perusing the wealth of images and text on board the discs. I have only listened to one of the commentary tracks (the cast), and highlights from the other three, but all seem very informative, and are actually narrated clueing in the viewer as to who is talking and what he/she has to do with the production. The featurettes on the supplemental discs, especially the ones on locations and special effects are especially well-done, and could easily be mistaken for a PBS documentary, being so in-depth and high budget. There are quite a few other featurettes, including several on Tolkien himself, and all are worth watching. As expected, New Line has given "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring EE" a great transfer and sound mix, boasting full DTS-ES 6.1, and flawless picture quality. There is really nothing to mention about the beauty of the video, since one easily forgets about the quality, and becomes immersed in the movie. The sound will also not disappoint, easily rivaling my previous DVD sound champ, "Saving Private Ryan". The packaging is also quite nice. It consists of a heavy cardboard/vinyl cover (that is quite large), and a pull out four disc sleeve. All in all, "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring EE" surpasses the previous DVD release in every respect, and is certainly worth the cost, whatever it may be.
Rating:
Summary: Superb Appendices in extended edition
Review: I think it's needless to say this is one of the most exciting films ever produced. I would like to concentrate my comment on the Appendices in the Extended Edition in DVD. Peter Jackson and his team present the delightful adventure of doing the three Ring films. Starting with a Vision by doing an extensive analysis of Tolkien's writings, the Appendices present every step in the film production of this Middle-Earth saga. Every step is carefully presented in one of the best documents of contemporary film-making. The Appendices present the struggles in generation of the script; the artistic design; the design of orcs, trolls, goblins, and fiery demons; the design of minatures and sets; the digital effects; the production of weapons -fake and real-; the selection of locations, and all other steps of this magnificent feat of craftsmanship that is the production of The Lord of the Rings. I was dazzled by the Fellowship of the Ring, but the Appendices blew my mind. A document of unparalleled value.
Rating: 
Summary: Cure for Insomnia
Review: I must admit this film was rather long and drawn out and I almost fell asleep several times. I found it difficult to take any of the actors seriously and I just couldn't get involved. This was disappointing as I was looking forward to seeing Lord of The Rings and unfortunately, just like most modern films, it was a big let down.
Once again too much time and effort has been put into the CGI effects (still looks silly and unrealistic) instead of strong acting/actors and good direction. I don't beleive it actually went for 3 hours! uugggghhhh - any longer and I would have been in a coma. I don't hate the film, but it is clear this movie was made to suit the PG 13 audience, every scene is prolonged and spelled out and gushy, like it was made for kids and young girls. I found the goo goo eyes, hugging and tears all very irritating and unconvincing - and who cares when the charactors died or almost died - I didn't. It's a real shame they are making three of these! uugggghhhh. If you are a die hard LOTR fan or you like soft flicks I suppose it might be enjoyable. If you want to see a good fantasy film that will satisfy you try 'The Neverending Story', or 'Legend'. Much more exciting than this snooze fest.
Rating:
Summary: Hours and hours of extra goodies!
Review: One of the greatest things about DVD's is the new expanded storage capability allowing directors and studios to add "making of" content, extra footage or alternative cuts of the movie that wasn't part of the original theatrical release. I must write that this box set of Lord of the Ring: Fellowship of the Ring takes DVD's abilities further than any DVD set I own.
Be prepare to spend several enjoyable evenings viewing some fantastic and in-depth "making of" material. This DVD goes even further than the standard 30-minute short by breaking the entire film making process into many 50 minutes in-depth and fascinating documentaries.
The DVD's are also loaded with a vast store of illustrations and sketches plus on-set still images.
The menus utilize LOTR illustrator Alan Lee's beautiful sketches and paintings to set a wonderful mood when browsing the content. (Similar to browsing the pages of a hand-illustrated old volume that the viewer has tucked away in an ancient library of forgotten works.)
And I also found the commentaries by the actors to be very enlightening and very amusing.
The interactive map of Middle Earth was extremely useful in tracking the journey and plot of the film from one region to another. A very clever and welcome bonus!
This DVD box set is a movie-lovers dream and a great value.
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: i'm a bit biass being a tolkien fan myself but it's an amazing movie, amazing dvd, it's just incredible. the fans who have read the books will apreciate the added scenes that were shockingly taken out (the gift giving!). you can really see the extra work they put into this and it was definately worth it. the fans who haven't read the book will have a better understanding of the history of middle earth and the history of the individual characters as well as their personalities.
in addition to the added/extended scenes there is a lot more of the extra behind the scenes stuff. there are a lot of hilarious parts of the cast audio commentary and a lot of interesting segments about how they made it. WARNING!: THE SEGMENT ABOUT SCALE! beware of this! it's interesting but when you watch it afterward and you know how they made the hobbits appear smaller and it just ruins it for you. that goes for some of the other segments, too. just watch out.
this really is a must have for lord of the rings fans but it is a pretty penny so if you aren't a really big fan don't get this dvd. you probably wouldn't really apreciate it as much and the regular dvd would be enough. this really was meant for the big fans. i know no one is gonna read this but i felt like writing it. i hope it helps someone.
Rating:
Summary: "One Ring to rule them all . . ." Yeah!!
Review: I can't describe its how amazing this film is, but this is one of the world's, or history's greatest films! Based on *J.R.R. Tolkien's* trilogy, *The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring* is a masterpiece, filled with a types of entertainment, and what's best, is that it's got all of 'em. It's got fantasy, action, drama, romance, and sweet humor, as it tells the tale of an evil Ring, the Fellowship which risked their lives trying to destory it, and the problems it causes over its bearer, Frodo.
Yup, you can RARELY find a movies, like this, and rarely you can find a story like this. Peter Jackson has made a wonderful movie without making it boring, and you can enjoy this long movie, unless you're an impatient person, whom I won't recommend this film to. This movie is even better than Titanic, and it beats ... movies like A Beautiful (ugly) Mind. It's filled with a wonderful cast: cool Elijah Wood, Sean Austin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Bean, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, and talented British actors like Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee.
The story is one you all know, if you've read the book. Dark Lord Sauron is plotting to rule Middle Earth using one, powerful Ring, the Ring of Power. But he was defeated, and Prince Islidur, who killed him, decided to keep the Ring, after his heart got filled with the desire to use the Ring. But alas, the guy got killed and the Ring was lost for thousands of years, until Smeagol found the it, and he got corrupted by the "Precious" Ring. He became the hideous creature, Gollum.
But the Ring abandond Gollum, and something happened that the Ring didn't expect. It was found by the most unlikely creature imaginable, a Hobbit (halfling): Bilbo Baggins of the Shire, and for years, the Ring was in his houses . . . until now.
Now, his hier, Frodo, must destroy the Ring by casting it back into Mount Doom, the very place it was made, and there, it could be unmade. Together with the Fellowhsip of the Ring, Frodo must journey to Mordor, to the site of Mount Doom, or else Sauron, whose spirit is bound to the Ring, will return. But the journey won't be that easy.
Nominated for 13 Academy Awards, and out of those Oscars, it won four, the Fellowship of the Ring is one you won't miss to watch! Though it should've won Best Picture, it's still a great movie, and here at Amazon.com, the film has 2778 reveiwers (the number might change). Out of the reviews, there are 130 1-star reviews! This is quiet a FEW number of negative reviews, mostly done by Tolkien "Experts" and easily bored people who probably never read the books. But it's pleasing to know that there are many 5-star reviews, and that'll probably make you want to watch it, again and again, 'till you're tired of it. Sincerely,
A ...reviewer/student/fan
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