A beautifully filmed epic that starts one of the greatest trilogies ever

Rating: 10/10 (29 November 2008)

--This review includes some minor spoilers--
Many so-called film experts said the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien could never be made into a movie, because of the complex story and all the characters involved. People grew even more skeptic when Peter Jackson, who had only made a bunch of low-budget Horror movies, decided to give it a try. Therefore my expectations were quite low, when I went to the movies, especially since I wasn't a very big fan of the books. OK, they are quite well-written, but at some points they are just boring and too complicated to understand. Now when the movie ended and the credits started to role, I had tears in my eyes. It was one of those moments I was so glad to have been proved wrong. This movie is a masterpiece of fantasy, and back then I didn't know that the sequels would be even better.
The dark lord Sauron created a powerful ring, that contained all his evil and with it he managed to conquer all of MiddleEarth. Isildur, king of Gondor, cut it off during a battle and even though he could have destroyed Sauron's evil forever, he decided to keep it and use it against his enemies. The ring betrayed Isildur and led to his death, disappearing in a river, lying there for 2500 years. Then it was found by the creature Gollum, who took it into the mountains, where he was consumed by it, eventually splitting his personality and driving him completely insane. The ring, which can prolong life, left Gollum after 500 years and was then found by the hobbit Bilbo. Hobbits, small creatures who prefer life when its comfortable, usually don't get involved in adventures. Usually.
Because at Bilbo's 111th birthday, the wizard Gandalf shows up and after Bilbo demonstrates the rings power at his birthday party realizes that he is in possession of Sauron's ring. Realizing that Sauron already send the Nazgul, dark riders, who can feel the ring's presence after Frodo, he urges him to leave his hometown. Frodo, who is accompanied his friend Sam, and the troublemakers Merry and Pippin, finally makes it to Bruchtal, a city of Elves, where the council decides that the ring has to be destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom, which requires a long and dangerous journey. There Frodo decides to take to journey and Sam, Merry, Pippin come with him once again. Gandalf, the strider Aragorn, the elf Legolas, the dwarf Gimli, and the man Boromir, also pledge to aid Frodo and they all become the Fellowship of the Ring.
That is pretty much the first half of the film, the second half depicting the Fellowship's journey over the mountains, the mines of Moria and the Elven Forrest.
The first film in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy brilliantly introduces us to the main characters who are all greatly cast. Especially Ian McKellen as Gandalf (Oscar Nominated), Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn (very emotional), John Rhys-Davies as Gimli (very funny), Sean Bean as Boromir and of course Elijah Wood as Frodo.
The film was filmed in New Zealand, and the spectacular Cinematography makes me look forward to the Blu-Ray release of the film. Also the music, by Howard Shore is one of the greatest ever composed for a movie. The Visual Effects are also brilliant, and you will have a hard time telling what is GCI and what not.
All in all, there is really nothing negative you can say about this movie. As I stated before you don't have to like the books to become a fan of the movies and if you buy Fellowship of the Rings on DVD, I really recommend the Extended Version. It really adds a lot to the story and the backgrounds of several characters.