Strangers from distant lands, you shall unite to see this brilliant film, or you shall fall.

Rating: 9/10 (29 December 2001)

WARNING SPOILERS
This movie trilogy better be good for the amount of money being pumped into it. And to a certain extent you can see where the money has gone. As an avid fan of the book I can only say that it's a pretty damn good adaptation. The reason why this book has taken forever to reach Hollywood was pretty obvious; it was always too hard a project. With Peter Jackson (who I can see as a LOTR nerd) as the director he has delivered an admirable film.
The hapless Frodo is given a magical ring by his adopted father, and when Gandalf (a wizard) finds out that this is the one ring that the evil lord Sauron once owned, Frodo is charged by Gandalf to make his way to and Elven stronghold: Rivendel. On his way Frodo and his companions are chased by the servants of Sauron, the nine black riders of Mordor. When Frodo makes it to Rivendel the Elf Lord, Elrond, makes it clear that the ring must be destroyed at Mount Doom in Mordor. A fellowship is created,with Frodo as the ring bearer, to enter the dark lands of Mordor and destroy the ring. The final part of the movie is the obstacles they encounter from their enemies including Saruman, a wizard, who has succumbed to the evil of Sauron. For those who have not read any of Tolkein's books they will find that the story is not hard to grasp but the setting will be. The different races and different lands can become confusing but Jackson has done it as simply as he could.
Firstly, I'll compare the movie to the book. The movie follows the book very closely with only few admissions. The most obvious omission is the Tom Bombadil sequence, and I don't think I am the only one who thinks that this was an excellent move. Jackson also greatly shortened the Counsel of Elrond which was a must for in the book it is extremely detailed complex. In addition, the sequence in Lorien where the fellowship meets Galadriel was shortened, and I think this was to the detriment of the movie. A couple of scenes where needed elaborate the Galadriel character.
There were two major sequences where the movie added to the book, the first was done brilliantly. I am talking of the introduction where Galadriel socialises the audience to the history of the One Ring in middle earth. The scene where the humans are battling Sauron's army was breathtaking and is a good sign of things to come. The second was of course the extension of the Arwen character. I like many other LOTR nerds were skeptical, but I was delighted when I eventually saw it.
However, can the movie stand on its own two feet? It most certainly can. The story was exciting and beautifully told, the characters were fully introduced, and the movie was visually spectacular. Although I don't rate it as one of the greatest movies of all-time it is certainly a commendable achievement.