A magnificent vision

Rating: 10/10 (11 August 2002)

Many years ago, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a series of novels that swept the literary world off its feet. They were stories of magical worlds littered with creatures we can only see in our imaginations. Tolkien created an epic adventure such as the world has never known and he called them The Lord of the Rings. Years later, Peter Jackson took the first part of that epic saga and made it into a film such as the world has never seen. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is an adventure story about a dark lord named Sauron who creates a ring so that he can control all of Middle Earth. Sauron loses the ring and it eventually winds up in the hands of one Frodo Baggins, a hobbit who has lived in peace for all of his life. Like his uncle before him (Bilbo Baggins), Frodo wants the sense of adventure in his life and wants to explore more than what his eyes can see. That is exactly what happens to him in the worst of ways when Bilbo bequeaths to him a Ring of mysterious power and origin. Eventually, we discover that the Ring is indeed the Ring of Power crafted by Sauron himself. Gandalf, Frodo's old wizard friend, tells him that the Ring must be destroyed or all of Middle Earth will fall under the might of Sauron. Henceforth, Frodo sets out to destroy the Ring with his hobbit friends (Merry, Pippen, and Sam) and winds up in many sorts of adventures which lead to massive sorrow and pain. There is much more to the story than what I am telling you and I won't tell you because much of it is surprise and littered with all sorts of action and adventure. Elijah Wood (who plays Frodo in the film) gives an honest performance and could have received a Best Actor nomination. The writers intend to make the audience believe that Frodo is us, as a human being, and the way that he looks at this is the way that we would look at it. The Fellowship of the Ring is a vivid and magnificent adaptation to Tolkiens's own masterpiece and Peter Jackson has created a world that we will never forget in our minds. He has taken a novel one could only picture in their imaginations and made it into a film that stretches the boundaries of cinema. He has used the computer to create creatures from another world and has done it with great success. He has made a picture that will be considered one of the best epic motion pictures of all time that goes along with such classics as Ben Hur and Gone with the Wind. If Mr. Tolkien were alive today, he would be astounded by the amazing vision of Peter Jackson for his novel and would be proud to have written such a wonderful classic. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is indeed a film which should not be missed by any die hard movie fan across America.
Lenny's Grade: ****