Speed bumps ahead.

Rating: 10/10 (20 December 2001)

Since 1969, the year I discovered J.R.R. Tolkien, I have tried to read The Lord of the Rings twice a year. I have read everything I could find on Middle Earth and consider myself a dilettante-amature expert on Tolkien and Middle Earth. The movie, Fellowship of the Ring, was by any standard a wonderful film. And yet . . . well, we will get to that in a minute. But first, the good stuff. Mordor transferred from book to film better than the book described it. My deepest, meanest imaginings of Mordor did not compare to how absolutely dismal Jackson made the place look in FOTR. Ringwraiths: right on! Hobbit society: perfect. Elves: noble and genteel warrior-poets. Of the nine members of the Fellowship, seven made the transition to film perfectly or almost. The best were: Gandalf, gentle but quick-tempered; Legolas; Gimli (this WAS Gimli!); Boromir, brave warrior with a human's weakness. Aragorn was very good, although less woods-crafty than I had pictured him. Sam was also very good, better than I was expecting. Still, he was not as subservient as I had imagined Frodo's employee would be. As for Frodo, I had imagined Elijah Wood playing the role long before any casting announcements were made. The Merry and Pippin characters diverted from The Book more than any of the other characters, by far. Even so, they were fine. The non-Fellowship characters were all well-represents and well-played: Galadriel; Elrond; the Orcs. The CGI graphics of the troll and the Balrog were perfect. Perfect! They were all as they should be, but . .. But. I took my wife and my adult children to see the movie with me. None of them have read The Lord of the Rings. As the movie progressed, I was delighted with Jackson's adaptation. But I was very aware of the modifications he made to the story to bring it to the screen: Frodo's ignorance of the existance of the ring or Bilbo's plans; the suddend escape of Frodo from the Shire (hardly the 17 years that passed from Bilbo's 111th birthday until Frodo's 50th birthday); the nature of the Council of Elrond; and so on. I was aware of the differences. Those small changes were like speed bumps to the flow of the film's story. It was MY awareness of Tolkien's work that disrupted my attention to the film, not any flaw in the film. The rest of my family was totally absorbed in the movie. I realize that my knowledge of the novel keep me from getting into the film as much as they. Even so, the film was totally faithful to the spirit and story of the book. My minor complain is, the film is NOT the book and such differences as existe are distracting. Does it mean I will not see the film again? No. Does it mean I won't purchase the DVD when it is available? No. I give this movie a 10 out of 10. Non-readers will probably find this movie more fluid than I did, but that does not mean I don't LOVE this movie. It fulfills my 30-year-old wish.