Awe-inspiring fantasy

Rating: 9/10 (20 August 2011)

IMDb Top 250: 18 First things first. I have never read the Lord of the Rings books, or the Hobbit. Also, I've always avoided the movies, so I have no idea what the story was about, except for the quest to destroy the Ring. Also, I watched the original theatrical releases.
I walked into the greatest trilogy ever without a clue of what to expect. But two days ago I had a marathon: 9 and a half hours of Middle-earth in one day. It was nothing short of incredible.
Fellowship of the Ring is an amazing film, and one of the greatest fantasy works ever. Right from the start of the ground-laying prologue, it is apparent this will be a groundbreaking movie, as far as scale and effects go. The first battle, gigantic, simply dropped my unprepared jaw.
Fellowship follows Frodo, a hobbit, from his humble home to an adventure bigger than him. It's hard to discuss the plot, because of all the fantasy names. I want you to see this film, and you're wasting your time if you've seen it already because I'm going to gush about it.
Frodo's quest offers pure exposition of a fully realized world. Elves, dwarfs and men live together in a medieval society with wizards and dragons. But despite how that may sound, this is not the nerdy fantasy one would expect from such a summary. No spells with silly names are cast, creatures are realistic (or too awesome to criticize), and everything is handled in a mature way.
The effects are unrivalled for the time. Orcs look terrifying and convincing, and the CGI monsters look real. Large battles look filled with people, not animations, and places that cannot be real... appear real. Easily a highlight.
The characters are well played and mostly fully realized. Frodo, the good soul, is one of the more developed characters, as he should be. Sam is a great companion. Aragorn is awesome. I didn't like Legolas in this one though, he arrived out of nowhere and didn't do too many special things, or explain his presence. I like Gimli. I don't like how he became the comic relief in the later films, but he's great. Boromere is excellent, as the conflicted human. And Gandalf. Wow. Say it with me, the greatest line of the trilogy: "YOU! SHALL NOT! PAAAAAASS!" That scene is undoubtedly the best of the film, and top 3 in the trilogy.
A visual masterpiece, Fellowship is filled with great moments. The opening battle, the wizard confrontation, the Mines (!) and the last battle. Personally, I thought the Ringwraiths were the coolest and most intimidating things. Brilliant.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a fantastic series, arguably the best ever, and Fellowship starts it off perfectly. You have to see this film eventually, even if you don't like fantasy. 9.4/10