9 - Excellent

Rating: 9/10 (24 December 2015)

From the first minute I saw it, I knew it was going to be an instant classic. The directing, scenery, costumes and strong cast all transported me into this grand fantasy journey. It's a 3 hour long movie, but the time flew. There are few films one could say were as ambitious as the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The shire is an enchanting idyllic place full of innocent hobbits but that doesn't last too long as the characters venture into intimidating environments and face tough creatures. There's good, evil and corruption as some of the human characters fare better than others. But as the title suggests, they all form a fellowship to hunt after the often coveted ring. It ends with Samwise persisting and doing whatever it takes to help Frodo on his journey as a true friend. As an introduction to the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring did a great job in enticing me to see the later entries.