Rating: 
Summary: Great Movie - Can't Wait to See The Rest Of The Trilogy!
Review: Long ago, Sauron the Deceiver forged several rings to give to those who saught the power to rule, bringing them into a sort of alliance with each other. Three were given to elves, seven to dwarves, and nine to mortal men. However, Sauron did not tell the recipients that another ring was forged - one with tremendous power that he himself would yield. One ring to rule them all! But an alliance was forged once the treachery was discovered. Elves and Men defeated Sauron. The ring should have been destroyed, but the King of Gondor, Isolder, decided to bear it instead - to his doom. After he was killed, the ring was thought lost forever, but (through a tumultuous series of events) the ring ended up in the hands of Frodo Baggins. Realizing that the ring is indeed the One Ring and that it must be destroyed, a group of nine set out to bring the ring to Mordor. There it will be cast into the flames from whence it was forged. But the journey is perilous and many shall fall along the way. And the ring itself, seeking its original master, will betray the Fellowship of the Ring.
When I first heard about this new adaptation of the greatest Tolkien novels, I was skeptical. I had seen earlier versions and had not been impressed. I read these books, starting with the Hobbit, when I was about 8 years old. They were recommended to me by my dad. A true fan was born! So, I wasn't sure how true to the books this movie would be. But, then I saw a special about the making of the movie, and decided I had to see this movie. It seemed like Peter Jackson was dedicated to getting this movie right.
This movie is amazing! Peter Jackson makes a valiant attempt to bring the worlds of Hobbiton, Mordor, etc. as real to us as New York City, London, or any other real city. The actors do a wonderful job bringing the characters to life. You can truly believe that Elijah Wood is Frodo Baggins. We can witness first-hand the struggle of Aragorn as he is portrayed by Viggio Mortenson. And Ian McKellen is remarkable as Gandalf the Grey - just as I pictured him!
Of course, due to length constraints, the movie can't have every scene from the book. Frodo's journey prior to meeting Strider is cut rather short. However, it does nothing to hurt the continuity of the story. Also, Jackson has seen fit to give Arwen a much larger role. I say more power to you, Jackson. I always thought there was too little in the trilogy about the great Lady Arwen. The special effects are perfect and help to bring the magical story to life. I went to see this film with several other Lord of the Rings fans and we were all in agreement - This movie rocks!! I can't wait for the next part of the trilogy!
Rating:
Summary: "A Visual Epic" is NOT an overstatement
Review: Many people will be turned of by the absolutely glowing reviews that this film has recieved, but don't be. It is all that they say, and more. Every actor is well chosen, the sets beautifully constructed, the music hauntingly sweet, the plot not tied to the novel, but not so loose that it loses it's way. None of the dialog is overdone, which is one of the problems sci-fi/fantasy has too often. It is quite simply the best film of the past 5-10 years.
Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Story of Friendship
Review: Lord of The Rings-The Fellowship of the Ring, is undoubtedly the best movie I have seen in a very long time. It's such a beautiful story of friendship and loyalty, and that's what really appealed to me. It touched my heart and my soul very deeply. It made me laugh, and it made me cry. I don't remember the last time I cried so much watching a movie. It was sad, but at the same time, it made me feel good, experiencing the strong friendship and comraderie between these nine individuals, who were so different, and yet in their hearts were so much alike. One thing that really impressed me was the casting of the characters. Each one was perfect for the role they were cast in. I don't see how each one could have played their parts any more convincingly. Another thing that I was impressed by, was unlike so many movies in the fantasy/science fiction category, this movie did not rely on special effects to carry the movie. It was the story that was so impressive. This movie is not just for kids.I am 51 years old and I can't remember the last time a movie touched me like this one did. I recommend that anyone who can appreciate a beautiful story, and such a well written story, should not only see this movie, but buy it. You'll want to see it more than once, I promise you. It's also a wonderful movie to see with your kids. If they are too young to really understand the beauty of the story, there is plenty of action and magic to keep them entertained. I can't wait for the second installment in the trilogy. And I can assure you that I'll be one of the first to pre-order it, just like I did this one. I recommend that everyone else do the same. This is one movie that I can't imagine anyone not thoroughly enjoying. I recommend that everyone see it. You won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Egad!
Review: If you have never read the book, or read it once and forgot it, or just don't care much about it, you may enjoy this film. It is beautifully made and has many fine qualities.If you are a devotee of the books, have read them with love and understanding, if Tolkien is important to you....be prepared either to forget temporarily the plot which Tolkien developed or to suffer repeated great shocks and disappointments. I have not the heart to go into a lot of detail, but I'll give just a few examples (for I do not want you to think that I object to the omission of the Old Forest and Bombadil--no, they had to go--or to some trivial change or deletion.) Saruman is one of the few ambivalent characters in the book--a too-clever man who plays his own game. In this film he is just a tool of Sauron from the start. The subtlety of his character is destroyed. Merry and Pippin start out as minor juvenile delinquents. They join Frodo and Sam more or less accidentally. Gimli is a buffoon. Legolas hardly exists except as a machine-like archer. Aragorn, in the film, does not want to be King--he has "given that up long ago." Really. I thought he had been spending his whole life preparing to claim his rightful throne. (I guess that's why, in the film, he finds the shards of Narsil in Rivendell rather than carrying the Sword That Was Broken with him.) In this politically correct age, we cannot slight the ladies, can we?--and it's a long wait to get to Eowyn. So we'll just have Arwen show up at Weathertop to save the whole Fellowship with her sword and fast horse. Charming. This idiotic scene should please Xena fans, though it is a little disconcerting to see Aragorn reduced to being Gabrielle. Elrond Half-elven. Ah. My favorite character in the film. "Venerable he seemed as a king crowned with many winters, and yet hale as a tried warrior..." is how the Master describes him (I, 274). His appearance instead inspired in me an acute nostalgia, for he reminded me of some of the sorts of people I remember from my college days, who existed on the fringes of academe, usually by selling beads, incense, and other, less-legal things from basement shops in college communities. Ah, yes, good old Elrond Half-hippie. (I expected him to try to calm down the film's farcical Council by offering them marijuana.) The final battle scene is a wonderful example of the director not knowing where to stop. The "Boromir-as-pincushion" scene(a.k.a. "You can't keep a good man down") goes from being appropriately tragic to inappropriately hilarious (will he get up yet again??), while Aragorn's dismemberment of the Uruk-hai leader makes one wonder if this Mortensen fellow should have starred in Gladiator. Did anyone else notice the final music (when Aragorn talks to Gimli and Legolas)? I swear it's like something out of Braveheart--which is, I think, the film the director really wanted to make. I expected bagpipers to come marching up and Aragorn to cry "Freedom!" Not content with many extra-close close-ups of the Ruling Ring, the director decided it should say a few words occasionally, and recite some poetry ("Ash nazg durbatuluk," etc.) I think the Ring has more lines than Legolas.
The Lidless Eye might be more effective if it were horizontal, not vertical. Much more could be said, but not by me. Words fail. This ill-judged mangling of the works of a great author is very unfortunate. There was no reason to change so much.
Rating:
Summary: The best of the best
Review: The only way to summarize this movie is to look at it from a human point of view. The characters catch you, the script holds you and binds you to the story. I am not really sure if this movie will ever let the viewer go, or if the viewer wants to disconnect from it.
Legolas' bowmanship is awesome. I enjoyed the swordmanship, but there has not been a movie that ever showed the speed and graceful agility as Legolas with the bow.
Rating:
Summary: ...I was so wrong...
Review: Now, let me get started by saying that I don't easily confess I was wrong to others, but this is worth it. I've already reviewed this product, and at the time I was all for Harry Potter, so I gave this a 1 and called it worthless and overrated and all of that. Well, it's definetly NOT worthless, but it may be a little overrated. But, beside that, this is a really great movie, though I wouldn't go as far as to call it an "astounishing masterpiece", but I would go as far as to say it's one of the best movies I've seen in quite some time, and is better than Harry Potter. The special effects are dazzling, the actors are amazing, and I would say that if JRR Tolkien were still alive, he would be very, very proud. The only mistake I've made is not seeing it in theaters.
Rating:
Summary: .......PRE..cious....... !....!
Review: WELL, thank God you don't need a welding torch to get into this DVD - just a perfect little package with the correct amount of 'additionals' to stimulate interest in the deluxe collector's edition. Really very well worth it all. Story-line? That's for the uninitiated to discover.
Tech credits? Quite surpasses anything else - the opening battle alone transfers spectacularly. Cannot wait for the rest to follow - not quite Hollywood fare [just enough 'sweetness' but not too much] and the ladies? Ms. Blanchett and Ms. Tyler grace the screen with much dignity, feeling and truth [it ain't that easy to play a convincing fairy ya know!] Kudos to the production and especially monumental costume design involved [Ps. Christopher Lee rocks!]
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely amazing!
Review: What can one say that hasn't already been said, this film is just absolutely amazing in it's scale and detail. Having not read the books yet, I really can't sit back and compare the two. The movie by itself is just so wonderful though. All the actors do just a wonderful job of bringing to life all the characters of the genre. I'm sure, like everybody else, I can't wait until the second and third films hit the theater's and the DVD racks.
Rating:
Summary: A movie to drool over
Review: I heard that the Lord of the Rings was coming to theaters, and I saw that a lot of my friends were reading the book to know more about the movie. I only read the first three chapters of the book, but when I saw the movie, that was all I needed to know. I'm planning to read the rest of the trilogy soon...
The first thing I liked was the amazing special effects. The movie won an award for that, and I wasn't surprised. Everything--from the water horse stampede to the huge shadow/flame monster to the giant cave troll--looked astoundingly real. In movies like "Jurassic Park" and so forth, the monsters look like animatronics, even to stupid little kids. Um--right.
The second thing I enjoyed was the characters. They seemed well captured, as seen from the book. I really liked the strider-- Aragon-- and the others of the Fellowship as well. You really get to connect with them.
Also, since I didn't read the book yet, I never knew what was going to happen next. I liked this; it provides excitment. I was crossing my fingers in the battle with the orges... And I whispered "yes!" under my breath each time they defeated a monster or escaped a danger.
In other words, one really cool movie. It deserves five stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie, they don't make stories like this anymore!
Review: This movie is wonderful. The attention to detail is incredible. I mean this is middle earth made real! The shire and Hobbiton are just as I imagined them. Now one thing I really enjoy about the story of the Lord of the Rings: Magic is relatively rare. The story involves magic and the supernatural, but it's not used excesively. Most of the story is about the journey and the interrelationships between the characters. The movie and the world created by Tolkien have this very real feeling to them. It's like the world actually exists. Different kingdoms and places have a rich history, language, and cultures of their own. Tolkien was a scholar and a lover of languages and history and it shows in the quality of his beautiful storytelling. All to often these days adventure movies rely too much on special effects or violence and leave little to the plot or the characters. The Lord of the Rings is great storytelling and one of the best stories to come out of the 20th century. It's a classic that has stood the test of time and heavily influenced later fantasy writers and artists. Now this movie does have terrific special affects and some very violent moments but thankfully it offers much more than that. Thank you very much J.R.R. Tolkien for this wonderful story. Now why did I only give this movie a 4 star when I thoroughly enjoyed it to the point of feeling it deserves 5 stars? Well it diverges from the novel on some points I felt it didn't have to. Yes I know you can't fit the whole story into 3 movies but still there are changes made to the storyline that didn't have to be done. Some changes wouldn't have made the story longer but seemed to be altered just because the movie script writers felt it would be better if done a different way. I mean Ralph Bakshi's animated version of the Lord of the Rings covered the first book and a half of the Lord of the Rings, wasn't as long as this Fellowship of the Ring movie, yet was truer to the dialogue and the major plots elements than this movie! The animated version made a few changes also but in this movie there were more of them! At least I thought the movie version of Samwise Gamgee was better and I really liked Gandalf the wizard also! Now I thought the animated version of Strider/Aragorn was a better representation of the book character. Somehow I felt he should have been older than he was in the movie version. After all he was supposed to be weathered and older looking from his journeys and fighting in the wild lands he roamed through. Now I hope at the end of the 3rd movie they just don't have Aragorn and Arwen live happily ever after because if you read the appendix at the end of the book of the Lord of the Rings, after Aragorn dies of old age he leaves Arwen to a very sad fate to die alone in Lorien after all the other elves had passed away from middle earth forever. I was very sad and cried when I read that. There she dies with only her memories and all that she loved had passed away forever. A bitter fate indeed. However since it's not in the story proper but only in the appendix it may not be in the 3rd movie.
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