Maybe not the best film in the world, but the best one for ME!!

Rating: 10/10 (26 May 2004)

I will say it straight away: The Fellowship of the Ring the best part of the trilogy. I must have seen it at least ten times by now. There is something very special about this movie especially in the extended edition. Normally I'm not a big fan of bonus features and scenes on DVD's I actually hate them. I don't know why, but they have always the appearance to cheat on you. I can almost see the greedy Hollywood managers chuckling to themselves when they are throwing little pieces of **** (also called 'bonus material' in their language) on you that should have been remained on the cutting room floor and for that to earn the great money, to express it in a picturesque way. But as said above, in this film the new scenes - mostly at the beginning of the movie - add something that I have missed in the theatrical version. It is the feeling of the idyllic and peaceful Shire which Tolkien described so poetically in his book.
It is plain and simply magic what appears on the screen during the first thirty minutes. The azure blue sky, the bright green grass, the heart warming sunbeams that drown the whole landscape in such a peaceful light and in the middle of all that the small, rustic and peace loving society of the Hobbits with all their lovely traditions. It seems to exist really and there are few things in the world that I would prefer more than to leave all things behind and to go to that place and have a peaceful and close-to-nature life. Escapism in its purest form if I may say that! And what makes it even more powerful as a beginning of such a long movie (about 11 hours) is the Shire theme made by Howard Shore. It fits perfectly to the lovely nature and the freedom shown on the screen.It is a very beautiful contrast to what follows in the second part and at the end of the third one, namely the battle on the Plennor Fields.
This movie lied the foundation for the success for it's followers. I think that it legitimated a little bit the overuse of action in pt two and three. When you watch the trilogy as a whole you have the feeling that the story really played in Middle Earth. Had the first part been an action overloaded flick instead of a solid basis that took its time to introduce Middle Earth, the whole trilogy would not have the same significance that it has now  it would not be a cinematic masterpiece that will stand the test of time!
I have read someone writing that he eagerly awaits the coming years and with that the progress in Special Effects so that those used in this movies would look old fashioned so that everyone could see that there is nothing behind this movie than de CGI, that it is just a empty husk of a movie. I agree in parts. He may be right with certain sequences of TTT and ROTK. But not with this film for the reasons I mentioned in my review. It has heart and it is not just a piece of junk that comes out of the fountain-pen of an overpaid new-age Hollywood script writer. It is based on one of the best fantasy books, if not the best and Peter Jackson and the hundreds of people that worked on this film really have done a great job transporting the magic of the book to screen. Certainly some things could have been made better and the absence of Tom Bombadil was e big error. I am sure he would have added even more of the Middle-Earth-Magic I've already mentioned. It is very sad.
But even without him this film is not just entertainment and eye-candy. I will not say that it has much deepness and for many people who are shouting against this movie on this site deepness seems to be the only purpose a good movie can have. But they are all wrong. This movie simply evokes feelings and emotions that you don't experience every day and that is as much as you can expect from a fantasy epos. If that isn't enough for you, then simply avoid watching it or go home after watching it and read some poetry, but don't look for it in LOTR and rave if you don't find it!
Recently I've seen Van Helsing. It was just a totally different feeling than watching this. And it is not only because FOTR is done better in many ways, that it has for example a better sore or a better plot (or even has a plot ;-) ) Van Helsing and other movies of that sort seem only to be an excuse to get your money. The are produced in a short time and are forgotten in a short time after having seen it. And I don't think that it will make the producer sad, he has earned his money. Such productions charge the cinemas more and more nowadays. But you should not make the error to put FOTR in this category. You simply feel that this film has not been made for the above reasons by watching it. It has been made only that there is a movie that can make people's hearts a little more happy in a cold and alienated world! So, that's what I wanted to get rid off, after having seen the movie a good couple of times and after having read some strangely negative comments. So please see this movie, enjoy it and do not look for philosophical topics or whatever!
(10/10)