Nothing will ever replace the books, but this is still a great movie!

Rating: 9/10 (20 May 2002)

Before starting on the review, I'm going to assume that you've read at least The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien. If not, I do not recommend that you see this movie until you have done so. Still, I'll give a brief overview of the story...
Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit (basically a race of small humans), is the uncle of Frodo. In reading The Hobbit you can learn of Bilbo's adventure where he found the Ring. In Fellowship, Bilbo is old and is going to leave to go somewhere to retire. He leaves the Ring with Frodo. Frodo knows the Ring is powerful and possibly dangerous, but he doesn't know how dangerous until Gandalf (a wise wizard) tells him the history of the Ring, that it was forged in the fires of Mt. Doom by Sauron (an evil wizard trying to take control of the land - Middle Earth). It has the power to strengthen it's bearer, and make them invisible. However, it makes the bearer even more visible to Sauron's evil forces, and thus must not be worn. It also has other dangerous powers and will eventually control its bearer and lead them to doing evil. It has ruined many already, Gollum being the most obvious example. Anyway, Frodo must go on a journey to destroy the Ring, but the only place it can be destroyed is in the same fires where it was forged - Mt. Doom. But Mt. Doom, as its name implies, is in the midst of a land completely filled with evil. However, in order to keep Sauron's powers from taking over all Middle Earth, it is imperative that the Ring be destroyed. So Frodo heads out. On his way he stops at the home of Elrond where he joins a Fellowship, and together they set off toward Mordor (the evil lands from which Sauron works). Along the way they see evil spreading out, in the form of orcs and dark Riders. Many battles take place against the ghastly orcs, and a lot of non-gory hacking takes place. Two other important characters are Aragorn, a man who is part of the Fellowship, and Sam, who is Frodo's loyal companion.
Whenever a book is made into a movie, the movie version rarely lives up to the standard of the book, or the expectations of the fans. Fellowship is no exception. I don't think it's possible to really improve on Tolkien's masterpiece. However, that's not to say that Fellowship is a bad movie. In fact, it's one of the better movies I've seen! Making a movie from a book, especially one that has such a fan base as LOTR, is very difficult. You not only have to stay true to the original story, but you have to keep in mind that everyone has a different opinion of what the characters look like, and it is impossible to fit everyone's description. They also have to severely edit the original story in order to fit it into the time constraints, usually taking out scenes that some fans will be angry were removed. So making a movie from a popular book is a risky business. But Peter Jackson and the screen writers did do an admirable job on Fellowship.
I'll start with the positives. Personally, I thought they chose a great cast of actors, and the costumers and makeup artists also did a great job of depicting the orcs and other creatures in Middle Earth. The only characters that didn't quite look their part were the elves. They were basically wrinkle-free humans, and didn't look all that different. Still, they looked fine and I can't really complain. The acting was excellent, and I don't remember there being any "butchered lines". The battles were fast paced and got your heart pumping. The caves of Moria were also well done, if laid out differently than in the book. Every scene in the caves kept you at the edge of your seat. I also thought the intro that summarized how the Ring came to be found was well-done and informative for those who hadn't read The Hobbit. All in all, the movie was very entertaining and, though long, kept moving fast enough to hold your attention.
Ok, the negatives. The positives do outweigh the negatives, but there were some (I thought) unnecessary liberties taken with the story. I understand the need to leave out certain scenes, so I wasn't really bothered by the deletion of the Tom Bombadil scene. I also wasn't terribly bothered by how they had Pippin and Merry join Frodo's journey, though it was certainly different than in the book. I'm pretty understanding when it comes to deletions in the script of movies, but I have a problem with unnecessary insertions. My biggest gripe with the story in the movie is the insertion of Arwen taking Frodo across the river and then her calling the flood in and sweeping away the riders. That was not at all how it happened in the book and I think they inserted her in order to get a female character into the movie earlier! I wasn't too bothered by the kissing scene between her and Aragorn, though, because they do get married later. It was a short scene and didn't really detract from the movie (and it was not anything more than kissing, so it didn't hurt the content). Anyway, there are some inconsistencies in the story, but only one of them I thought was terribly unnecessary.
The objectionable content in Fellowship is purely violence. There was no bad language or suggestive sexual themes in the book, and there weren't any added into the movie. However, the book was filled with battles between the good guys and orcs, so naturally the movie was filled with them as well. The orcs, which are very hideous looking, are hacked, slashed, shot with arrows, etc. There is not gore and the battles are not bloody, but it's probably not appropriate for younger kids, especially those who might be bothered by the nasty looking orcs. Also, the scene with Saruman could be unsettling to younger kids, as would the orc-camp at Saruman's place. Finally, like in the book, magic and wizardry does play a role. However, it is usually shown being used for evil (except in the case of Gandalf) and does not glorify witchcraft in any way.
Fellowship is a great movie. Though it ends somewhat abruptly, it does so less than the book does, and they obviously did their best to end it in a way so that the next movie does not start with a battle (like the book The Two Towers does). And while they did take liberties with the story, the end product does stay true enough to the book in my opinion to still be satisfying. As movies from books go, Fellowship is one of the best. It is very well done, and I'd recommend it to fans of Tolkien who are mature enough to handle the violence.
Entertainment Value: 9.0. Edge-of-your-seat suspense and lots of fast-paced action in battle. Though the movie is very long, it does not lose your attention. Great movie.
Quality of Production & Acting: 9.5. Top. Excellent acting by Wood, McKellen, Mortensen, Astin, and the rest. Special effects as well as costume design are also very professionally done.
Storyline: 8.0. Not original in any way since it's from a book. However, the book has one of the best and most original stories ever crafted, and this drastically helps the rating. Understandably, many deletions to the original story were made. Too bad about the insertion of Arwen calling down the flood, though.
Content Acceptability: 7.0. Fighting, fighting, fighting. Lots of non-gory hacking and shooting. Arrows go into orcs' heads. Orcs are decapitated. Also, orcs and various other characters are very ghastly in appearance. Probably not appropriate for children under 13. Minor magical themes. No language or anything else.
Final Critique (not an average): 9.2. Great movie in its own right. Does take liberties with Tolkien's story, but most of them are understandable. Very entertaining and recommended to mature (at least 13 and up) audiences.