Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.

Rating: 10/10 (21 November 2013)

Directed by Peter Jackson
Starring Elijah Wood, Ian Mckellen and Sean Astin
Written by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and JRR Tolkien.
'A meek hobbit of The Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring and the dark lord Sauron'
I have wanted to do a review on the Lord of the Rings for quite some time, especially The Fellowship of the Ring. The reason behind my desire to speak about these films is because they are quite possibly the best films ever made.
Peter Jackson, what else needs to be said. He certainly was on his game with this film. His direction was flawless. He knew exactly what he wanted and presented it in the way fans would enjoy. In a film that lasted nearly 3 hours, not one scene was boring or dull. This film always has you on your toes and your eyes and ears never leave the screen. Everything was phenomenal. The set designs, costume designs and make-up were outstanding. Going from Gandalf's design to the Orcs nd Uruk-hai, excellent efforts. I am against CGI usage in films but the efforts in this film was so great and rich that it complimented the story as a whole. I don't believe I have to explain how great it was for Peter to shoot in New Zealand. The scenery was unspoiled and breathtaking. My favourite scenes and sets were Hobbiton (The Shire). It certainly looked exactly how JRR Tolkien described it to be. It looked like paradise. It was small yet beautiful. The inhabitants were so natural and showing us the aspect of living without industrialization. I loved every scene. Other than the cast, the writing also contributed largely to the greatness of this film. There was plenty of action, lots of dialogue but also enough humour to keep the audiences satisfied in their seats. I understood why Peter Jackson decided to remove, postpone and change some aspects of the storytelling. In my opinion, it worked well. For example, the exclusion of Tom Bombadill was necessary for the film due to the fact that his character didn't push the story forward.
The cast deserves just as much acclaim for the film's success as the director. They all did brilliantly. It seemed like if only one performance faltered, it would all fail. They were all on the same page and all helped each others performances. Ian McKellen was outstanding as Gandalf. His natural voice and face mannerisms gave the character life. Another performance I greatly admired was Sean Bean's portrayal of Bormoir. Boromir is one of my favourite characters in the Tolkien trilogy and the manner at which Jackson and Bean presented him was perfect. His story is heartbreaking and tragic but also manages to come full circle.
There are so many good aspects about the score and the way it is cleverly executed into the visual. While watching the film, I was barely aware of the music that was playing. It fits in so elegantly with the film yet has a voice of its own. That, I believe, would be the ultimate goal of a composer, and is flawlessly achieved by Howard Shore.
When every aspect of a film works together, the result will come out exactly like this film did. I recommend reading the novels as well. JRR Tolkien is one of the most celebrated authors of all time and this film certainly does his work justice.