Pretty darn good.

Rating: 9/10 (28 March 2005)

I have a horrible confession to make; something that shall forever alienate me from the world. Are you ready? Here it is. I don't really like Tolkien's Lord of the Rings much. It's long, it's tedious, it is way too complex and many other things. However, Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings is simply marvellous. Even though it is three hours long (the DVD Special Edition release is four), it is worth every second of viewing time. You know the story. Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) is unfortunate enough to come into possession of the One Ring that will, in the wrong hands, destroy the world, so wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) and a whole variety of characters team up to deliver the ring to Mordor and destroy it, lest it fall into the hands of the Dark Lord, Sauron. What makes The Fellowship of the Ring so much better than the book is the way in which it has been translated to the screen. Jackson, the New Zealand filmmaker responsible, has turned it from a long travelogue about Tolkien's own imaginary world into a rollicking story with a cracking plot. There is none of the endless backstory, none of the incessant description of Middle-Earth and none of the constant singing. There is Elvish, lots of it, but it is included only to reinforce the fantastic element and the otherworldliness of the Elves. The Fellowship of the Ring has an absolutely enormous cast; Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, John Rhys-Davies, Elijah Wood, Liv Tyler, Hugo Weaving, Sean Bean, and many more. Of these, the most impressive to my mind are McKellen, Bean (as Boromir) and Lee (as Saruman). McKellen is Gandalf, large as life and there on the screen, almost as if that's who Tolkien had in mind when he wrote it. Likewise, I cannot imagine there has ever been an actor alive who could have played the evil Saruman if it isn't Christopher Lee. Both are just sensational, and Sean Bean (the villain from Goldeneye) is excellent as Boromir, conveying the necessary flaws that define the character. Lord of the Rings has few female characters, for reasons it's probably best not to explore. Jackson has tried to feminise it a bit, but unfortunately he doesn't have much to work with. As it is, the only women in the first instalment with any substance are the elf-witch Galadriel (Blanchett) and Aragorn's love interest Arwen (Tyler). Neither have substantial roles, and mostly sit around whispering in Elvish. Visually, the movie looks amazing, and Middle-Earth has been brought to life in spectacular fashion. The movie was filmed in New Zealand, and the scenery is stunningly beautiful; this, coupled with the top-notch special effects make the film a dream to watch. The best scene by far is the escape from Barad-Dur, where our intrepid heroes are pursued at first by thousands of Orcs and then by the Balrog, which is simply the best depiction of a monster I have seen in a long time. I have absolutely no hesitation in labelling The Fellowship of the Ring the best film of 2001, by a country mile. It is almost impossible to fault; any problems can be blamed on the book, to which the movie is very faithful. Loathe as I am to give any movie a perfect score, I can see no reason not to for this movie. Actually, I can. You see, the movie goes for another six hours after the end credits, with The Two Towers and The Return of the King still to come. This is not the fault of anyone except Tolkien for making the book so damn long, but it's worth deducting half a mark for, simply for making me wait impatiently for the next instalment. I simply cannot wait; it's so unfair. Good-o-meter rating: 9/10