Really? 18 years old already?

Rating: 8/10 (15 November 2019)

I cannot believe that this film is 18 years old as I sit to write this. Having read the book and sat through the horrendous animated version of this from the 70's, or was it the 80's?, I was beside myself with excitement. Peter Jackson was tasked with bringing this sweeping epic to life on the big screen, and boy did he deliver. He basically divided up the book into three parts for the sake of transferring them to live action and include as much as possible. That was a wise choice, though in truth he could have done five or six movies and still not got everything in.
This first movie deals with the discovery that Bilbo Baggins had been in possession of the ring of power since his adventures as told in the Hobbit. There are dark forces seeking the one ring, and Gandalf tasks Bilbo's nephew Frodo with bringing the ring to the elves. Once there, there is a meeting of all the beings that make up middle Earth and it is decided that a fellowship shall be formed to see the ring safely to Mount Doom, where it was formed and the only place where it can be destroyed.
This film is gorgeous, It makes me want to visit New Zealand where it was filmed. At around three hours, it is still not enough and I was aghast at where it left you. That place is known as hanging. Even familiar with the story, I could not wait to see the sequel. This is definitely, along with the other two in the series, a must see before you die movie.