The best of the trilogy, sets a hard-to-beat standard

Rating: 10/10 (1 June 2004)

The Fellowship of the Ring is the first episode of Peter Jackson's retelling of JRR Tolkien's trilogy Lord of the Rings. It tells the tale of Frodo Baggins, how he managed to come into possession of the Ring of Power, and the start of his quest to destroy it.
After watching the entire trilogy, I feel I can now say this is the best of the three films. It set a very high standard of excellence the other two (for differing reasons) were not able to reach.
As with all three films, the locations, set design, makeup, special effects, and all those elements are simply outstanding. The film is beautiful to behold, so stunning and rich it is entirely believable that Middle Earth truly existed at some point in time. The filmmakers are to be commended for making a true work of art.
But beyond the visuals, this film excels because of an excellent, well-paced script. The film flows from one scene to another, one setting to another, one adventure to another. Even an often-criticized scene, the elven tree city of Lothlorien, acts as a respite for film audiences before the next phase of suspense and tension kicks in.
The main characters (and their corresponding actors) are given their best moments in this film. In the later films Frodo, Aragorn, and Gandalf tend to get lost in all the action; but here they shine with their best moments. Gandalf is most entertaining in his Grey Wizard form; Aragorn is infinitely more interesting as the mysterious ranger and exile than as a would-be king; and Frodo is still a man with a choice to make, instead of a victim torn between a promise and the lure of the Ring. By the time the third movie rolls around all these characters are being swept up by the events around them, in this film they are making the choices that put them there.
This makes Fellowship of the Ring the more enjoyable of the three by this commentator.
10 out of 10.