Overlong, but for the most part excellent.

Rating: 10/10 (24 December 2001)

Having now watched the film, all of my friends who haven't are asking me the inevitable question, 'How does it compare with 'Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone'?
My answer has to be 'It's six and two threes'. Whereas HP appeared slightly rushed (but nevertheless entertaining) and could have quite happily sustained an extra thirty minutes' running time, I found 'The Fellowship Of The Ring' to be equally captivating up until the climax of the splendid 'Mines of Moria' sequence, after which a sense of 'just get on with it' set in.
POSSIBLE SPOILER!! I found the latter segment incredibly gripping. On the screen, Frodo's intense reaction to events reached me on a far greater emotional level than similar situations in 'Star Wars' (Episodes I & IV) ever did.
However, from a cinematic point of view, I felt that the aftermath of this would be the ideal place for the ending. The feeling of 'something lost but everything to play for' that was so much of what made 'The Empire Strikes Back' work so well would have been just as apposite here.
I only read the book earlier this year, in preparation, and obviously I intend to read 'The Two Towers'. Unfortunately, it seems that Peter Jackson has already spoiled the first chapter for me by including major events from it at the end of the first film.
He didn't need to do this, as they would have made a great opening to the second instalment. I saw 'Fellowship' in a packed cinema, and after two and a half hours, I could sense some restlessness around me. I don't know exactly what they were thinking, but I know I was saying to myself 'Great film, guys. You've earned your money, but any chance of letting me go home now?'
Of course, up until that point I was completely enthralled.