Quite simply the best movie I've ever seen!

Rating: 10/10 (17 June 2002)

Peter Jackson's interpretation of the classic "The Fellowship of the Rings" is, quite simply, the best movie I have ever seen. It hits the high water mark in every respect: Lifelike characters act out the full range of human emotions in an engrossing epic storyline set against a sweeping and beautifully filmed landscape.
With the storyline and characters coming from a true classic, it should be little surprise they are as good as they are. But let's give credit where credit is due. Unlike too many modern directors who treat classic sources as mere "rough drafts" that need extensive reworking to have any appeal, Jackson thankfully stays true to Tolkien's material. He and his cast show their skill in being able to transfer a full length novel to a 3 hour movie without giving up any of the flavor or power of the original. I've watched it twice and both times I've been completely absorbed, my emotions soaring and diving with the characters and the plot.
I know it seems cheap and easy to dub a movie the best of all time (attention-hungry film critics seem to do it every other week) but, believe me, it's not a statement I make lightly. There is only a short list of other films I would consider 10 stars out of 10 -- mostly films which defined a genre, like "Casablanca", "The Godfather", "E.T.", "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark", and (more recently) "Pulp Fiction" and "The Matrix". But "Fellowship of the Rings" is the one movie of these I would gladly give 11 stars.