Quite unlike anything I've seen before.

Rating: 10/10 (21 December 2001)

I'm an obsessive watch-checker. I am always checking what time it is, just because I have to know. This includes during movies. When I went to see "The Fast and the Furious," an hour and 47 minute movie, I must have checked my watch eight times. But during the three-hour epic "Fellowship of the Ring," I checked my watch all of twice. I was too busy wrapped up in the world of Middle-Earth and enthralled in the breath-taking visuals to notice or care about the passage of time.
I'll admit, I've never finished the book. I bought it two months ago, promising myself I'd see it before the movie came out. That didn't happen, thanks to a joyous thing called procrastination. But it didn't matter. The movie managed to draw me into its world, made me feel for most of the characters (admittedly, there were some characters I just didn't care about), and made me pick up the book again as soon as I got home.

The acting was superb. Ian McKellen has been complimented on this board numerous times, but it bears repeating: he is the perfect Gandalf. There's not a single aspect of his portrayal of the character that I take issue with. The other actors turn in superb performances as well, notably Elijah Wood, who has forever defined what a hobbit should be like.
Go see this movie for the story; go see it for the gorgeous eye candy; go see it for the great acting; just go see it. You won't be disappointed.