Breathtaking

Rating: 10/10 (14 April 2002)

I just wanted to point out that I have never read the books so I came into this movie with a very open mind. When I first saw the previews I honestly wasn't sure of what to expect out of this. Some friends of mine read the books and were going on about how Peter Jackson was going to ruin the franchise by making a movie. They were proved wrong. My friends and I went and saw it 2 days after it came out, and needless to say, we were all completely blown away by the beauty of this film.
I may be young and I probably don't look at film-making the same way, but the way that Peter Jackson conveyed those words in the book to the big screen is just complete brilliance. I have never seen anything like it. Middle Earth was beautiful. Choosing New Zealand as the location to film this movie was the best decision ever. From The Shire to Rivendell to Mt. Doom, it was all captured flawlessly by Jackson.
Now on to the actors. What better person than Sir Ian Mckellan to play Gandalf the Grey. My god, the guy breathed eternal life into that character and he did it with such grace. I have to admit that going into this film, I was very skeptical on the choice of Elijah Wood for Frodo, but again, I was proved wrong, as Elijah provided an innocence to the character that I don't think anybody else could have done. All the other actors from Viggo Mortensen to Sean Bean to Liv Tyler did one hell of a job.
In summary, this movie is, arguably, my favorite movie thus far. All the things that I've wanted in a film have been weaved into this fine piece of artistic mastery and I'm definitely anticipating the sequels.