Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant Masterpiece!!!...
Review: All my life I have been waiting for somebody to make a live action film of The Lord of the Rings. I have read and re-read the books over 13 times. I have followed the making of the Trilogy since it started ... My anticipation growing with each new picture, with each new piece of spoiler information, and with each new trailer.I walked into the cinema on the day of it's release and watched what is now my #1 movie of all time. It delivered on all my expectations and more. There they were, all the characters from my imagination on the big screen. The sets, the art, the cast, the scenery, the story, the performances, the epic scale!!! Not once did I ever feel that I was watching something that missed the essence of Tolkien. I think the great man would have approved. Peter Jackson and Co. should be applauded for the amount of time and hard work they have put into this project. Every award and accolade that this movie has recieved is well deserved. I look forward to The Two Towers and Return of the King. For me, the highlight of this DVD was the sneak preview of the forthocoming movie The Two Towers.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: All of the extra footage is greatly enlightening, and really opens up the actors to you. It is very interesting how you are able to get such a good idea of who they really are. After hearing them all speak about it, and see all of the friendships that they formed and the great experiences they had I was a little envious that I couldn't have been in the movie. The extra footage also reveals all of the enormous amount of work that went in to this fantasic film of epic proportions. The movie is just as amazing as it was in the theatre, and the extra scenes are fantastic. Some of the scenes I can't understand how they were able to take out because they set up parts of the following movies. I was a little disappointed that there was no Tom Bombadil, but after seeing all the work that was put into the making of this film I am just appreecaitive that they made it at all. It is absalutely brilliant and a deffinite must for any Lord of the Rings fan! If there was anything higher than 5 stars I would give it to this film, it is two thumbs way up high!!:0)
Rating: 
Summary: WHERE IS THE GREATNESS OF YESTERDAY?
Review: All right, all right, The Lord of the rings is good, now, just a little thought for you to think about : Somewhere in the middle of the movie, didn't you find yourself dozing off or something?It really gets boring sometimes, really.It Is a constructive criticism, maybe the second one is going to be everything I was waiting for.Unfortunately, they don't make more things like old movies, where special effetcs were secondary and the story was what really mattered.Remember The magic of OZ, Raiders of the lost ark, Simbad and even Kull and Never Ending story?Those were the times.......Let's hope Hollywood realizes that!
Rating:
Summary: Silver Teaspoons
Review: All right, so the young hobbits are really fanatical about the movie. I can see why. It's dramatic, showed a great deal of them as extras, was full of adventure, and was directed well. The only problem was that I wasn't in it.
Rating: 
Summary: The true history of Tolkien and "LOTR"
Review: All the other reviews have pretty much said it all - yes, the film is fantastic! I have my own 2 disk set copy on Region 2(PAL)(available from amazon.co.uk) - but I'm here to give a different but very, very important perspective - my "patriotic spin" if you'd like, and as a service to all Tolkien devotees and "LOTR" fans.
Something that has been sadly amd sorely overlooked (even by his own countrymen!) is the fact that Mr. Tolkien was very much South African! Yes folks, a South African! We truly are a surprising bunch, aren't we? He may have lived much of his later life in our Commonwealth "mother country" England, but he was born in the city of Bloemfontein in South Africa. In fact he started writing the first drafts of the "LOTR" saga here in Eastern Cape region of South Africa. It was while spending time in a region known as the Eastern Cape in a hamlet known as "Hog's Back", that Tolkien became inspired. It is well known (here) that the mountains, lush wild forests and rivers around "Hog's Back" very much provided the template for Tolkien's "Middle Earth" environs and back drops. I suggest all true Tolkien and "LOTR" devotees to make the trip to the forest village of "Hog's Back" in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa and come and see for themselves, the only and true inspiration for "Middle Earth".
Also of note, is that "The Tolkien Society" are based in his old birth town of Bloemfontein, S Africa, and they do, I beleive, run tours of his birth place and other places of his youth etc. I'm happy to assist where I can, as I fellow "LOTR" and more importantly, as a fellow countryman of Mr. Tolkien, if anybody would like to contact me. "Lord of The Rings" - Proudly South African!
Rating:
Summary: The best Jackson could do.
Review: Alright, I agree: there dozens or even hundreds of alterations from the first book here. IN the scope of TOlkien's imagination, it would be almost impossible, even with one three hour film made for each book, to put everything exactly the same say. So, Jackson and his pals were forced to make some choices. First of all, being this a fantasy film and knowing a lot of people who did not read the book would see the movie, they chose to increase pace and action (so, of course, the songs and the Tom BOmbadil chapter were the first to go...). Other than this, let's not forget that we'll have a four-DVD edition coming in November, with an extra 30 minutes of new scenes edited into the original movie. THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING is so touching for one simple reason. It's clear that everybody involved did their best, with respect for Tolkien's work. It's not like when you're going to shoot a super-gero adptation, for example, and the studio hires a hot-shot director who, sometimes, never even read a comic book from that hero. No. Here, the case is totally different: JAckson, the director, wanted to shoot the movie desperately: it was a deram, and HE went after the studios for backing him up. This is the secret of the magic of this movie.
Rating:
Summary: My new favourite movie
Review: Alright, I've heard both the negative AND positive review, but I still think this is the best movie ever made. I'm a huge Tolkien fan, and have read the books more times than I could count, so when I first heard the movie was going to be released, I got tremednously excited. 2002 had THREE movies I HAD to see (Unbreakable, Hannibal, and Lord of the Rings). The prior two were a bit of a dissappointment, but Lord of the Rings saved the year. Two weeks prior to it's inital release, I pre-ordered tickets, and seriously grew more and more excited as the days went by. Thank god it was not for nothing. The movie was far better than I ever dared to expect (Even though it didn't stick to the book as well as I'd hoped), and the soundtrack was truly amazing. The choir-part in Moria (when the company is being chased) was magnificent! The special effects are gorgeous as well, and the actors were each acting as if they were born for the parts. Two of them excelled actually: Gandalf (Ian McKellen), and Legolas (Orlando Bloom. Expect to see more of this guy. He was (in my opinion) the best one in the whole movie). Liv Tyler, when speaking Elvish is absolutely incredibly sexy :) Four things that bugged me about the movie though: - Galadriel was portrayed a little sinister; In the book, she's the embodiment of good. The movie made her look more or less evil, if you ask me
- No Tom Bombadil; My favourite character in the book (And from what I heard, Tolkien's favourite character) didn't make it to the big screen
- Narsil didn't get reforged; A key issue in the book. Maybe in part 2?
- We have to wait a fricking year for the next movie :) I've seen the movie 5 times so far, and I can only hope that next December, (If the worldwide release-day is the same again) the cinemas will do as they did with this one; Start at mindnight exactly, but then WITH The Fellowship shown RIGHT before the Two Towers. Looking forward to the DVD (I heard there'll be an Elvish 'speech'-version. EVERYTHING IN EVLISH!), and a trip to New Zealand to actually SEE the wonderfull (and often jaw-dropping) scenery :) -Vf-
Rating:
Summary: Well worth the wait!
Review: Although a bit on the long side (3 hours), this movie has really captured the story in the books. Gollum was exactly as I had pictured him to have been when I read the book many years ago. Mr. Jackson has painstakingly gone to great lengths to be true to the written story. Absolutely worth seeing and I am looking forward to the other two books.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfull Film adaptation of Tolkin's book!
Review: Although hard-core Tolkin fans will be able to notice a few simi-major events skiped or abrivated beyond their liking, this is by far the BEST book to film adaptation I have ever watched, or heard about. Be on the look-out for the directors edition with 30 minutes of more footage, including the giving of gifts by the 'Lady of the Woods' compleatly remastered with new music for the aditional footage. I have this DVD, and will msot certainly be gettign the directors edition! Get the sound-track also, great music!
Rating:
Summary: Five stars - I'm in awe of this movie
Review: Although I hadn't read any of the "Lord of the Rings" novels before, I was nonetheless eager to see this movie, being a fan of Science Fiction books and movies and after seeing the breaktaking trailer. However, upon leaving the theatre, I was even more impressed with "Lord of the Rings" than I orginally thought I would be. This is truly an awesome movie - and brilliant, too. The plot is detailed and engrossing, the characters range from interesting to raptuous [even though a Science Fiction, I felt connected emotionally to many of the characters in the movie], and the often haunting and mesmerizing soundtrack beautifully captures the mood of the film. I was particularly taken by the over-arching theme of the movie - the eternal struggle of good versus evil, and man's spiritual and moral frailty in the face of temptation - as well as the tone, which often seemed to border on the religious. More merely a great Science event, this movie in my view qualifies as one of the best movies ever made. It would be a travesty if "Lord of the Rings" isn't at least nominated for a Best Picture oscar. This movie is that good.
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