I Kick Arse for the Lord! (of the Rings)

Rating: 10/10 (20 December 2001)

Wow.
I'm not going to mince words here. The Fellowship of the Ring is the best adaptation of a popular novel since The Godfather. Majestic, sweeping, awe-inspiring  and that's just the scenery. Over three short hours, the film races at breakneck speed through the trails and tribulations of the Fellowship. Exciting, exhilarating, tragic, funny, scary  it perfectly captures the essence of Tolkien's incredible tome.
Wonderfully directed by visual genius Peter Jackson, perfectly cast, acting worthy of the nods from the academy, jaw-dropping action sequences, a momentum that never lets up, the enduring beauty and terror of Middle Earth captured with perfection and an ending that leaves everyone salivating for more. This is the kind of film they invented the term epic' just to describe. At last  an over-hyped movie that lives up to its hype. Hats off to New Line Cinema, who have risked their entire studio on this project and who deserve to be thoroughly rewarded for coming up with the goods. This film will set the benchmark rest of the twenty-first century.

The idiotic gripes listed in the imdb's user reviews just beggar belief. The classic whinge of the film is not as good as the book' always leave me dumbfounded. People who resent the fact that their interpretation of a given novel does not exactly match the director's visualization are simply crazy  they are never going to. If you prefer books to film so much  don't bother seeing any literary adaptations. Ever. To film a motion picture of the book voted the best of the twentieth century is no small undertaking and Jackson has performed above and beyond the call of duty. As to the bits he missed out  good! They where boring anyway. Confused with all the characters? The ones with little guys are good and the ugly ones dressed in black are bad. The goodies are on a journey to destroy an evil ring, the baddies want the ring to enslave everyone  not too tricky eh? If you want to see a film that doesn't explain itself very well, have a peek at Lost Highway. Sit back and just enjoy the damn thing without feeling the need to nit-pick.
Without a doubt, one of the greatest films ever made.
Bring on The Two Towers.