What a movie is supposed to be!

Rating: 8/10 (2 February 2009)

I have, in my 32 years of existence, watched a many, many movies. I've seen classics such as Casablanca, or Metropolis, and have seen the most horrible or horrible films like, Justin Loves Kelly. With that being said watching The Fellowship of the Ring was up there amongst the best.
The film is absolutely captivating, it has some of the best visual imagery I've ever seen. Every scene is crisp, the blacks are black, fire looks like fire, and the costumes and equipment used are so impeccably caught on film, that it's easy to feel as if you (the view) is actually in the scene with the actor's. Of course, in addition to the visual imagery, you have the sound and computer graphics. Again, the sensory overload I experienced was right up there with watching a beautiful sunset. Finally, the direction and acting is first rate. I understand, now, from watching the entire extended cut, trilogy that all three movies, (FOTR, TT, ROTK), were all shot as one and each scene was organized so that when they were filming one scene for the first film, the next scene could have very easily been for the second, or the third film. Amazing. I especially enjoyed the roll of Aragon played by Viggo Mortensen was exactly what I imagined from the book. His roll was mysterious, cold, yet powerful.
All in all, this film is easily one of the best films ever made. There is no way that early Hollywood could have pulled of a film of this magnitude. This is something that only modern technology could have brought to life. So comparing this film to the classics, such as Casablanca, is like comparing Apples to Oranges.