Richly deserving of its acclaim

Rating: 10/10 (23 June 2002)

Reading through the various posts, I see that the overriding theme amongst the movie's few detractors was that it was "overly long" and "boring", even prompting one poster to rename the movie "Bored of the Rings."
Well, these people clearly haven't read the books and thus are not Tolkien fans. J.R.R. Tokien's books are VERY long and descriptive, and even the hard core fan has to wade through certain elements. However, the books are thrilling, sweeping epics, microcosms of the age-old struggles between good and evil. In this context, Tolkien has created a complete alternate world, populated by humans and similarly-evolved races such as elves, dwarves and hobbits, and mixes courage, determination, love and magic to create "Middle Earth".
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring accomplishes what no film maker dared attempt in the 47 years. It encapsulates the first book of the trilogy in jaw-dropping fashion onto film. And that bears repeating: the movie is so amazing, so awe-inspiring, so wondrous that through much of the movie, I felt my jaw literally dropping open. It's THAT good.
The cast is nearly perfect: Ian McKellan *is* perfect as Gandalf the Grey. The standoff at the Bridge of Khazad-Dum will go down with the alien's tail slowly encircling Lambert in "Alien", the initial emergence of the creature from the black lagoon and other horror/fantasy epic moments as one of the all-time great scenes in cinematic history. Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Elijah Wood, Liv Tyler, Ian Holm, Cate Blanchett and the rest of the remarkable ensemble cast give the performances of their careers. The special effects, despite some that claim otherwise, leave the viewer on the edge of their seat throughout. And the good news is that since the movie has grossed over $800 million world-wide to date, the second and third installments of the trilogy will benefit with post-production special effects improvements.
If you haven't seen this movie, you've missed out, big time, unless you can find it still playing somewhere. The big screen is far and away the best place to view this masterpiece, especially sitting up close. I saw it three times in the theaters and would see it again today if it were playing nearby. And I know where I'll be the day "The Two Towers" is released: in my local theater, sitting close, watching yet another epic bit of storytelling unfold.
A gigantic 10 out of 10.