No doubt in my mind that this film will amuse, amaze and entertain both fans and Joe Average alike.

Rating: Null/10 (11 December 2001)

Immense! Unbelievable! A tale that exceeds every single tale in it's genre. The sheer grandeur of this film is amazing and will easily be able to hold you in a tight grip during the almost three hours it lasts! Although I am equally blow away as my Scandinavian colleague, I am still able to put the pieces together. I will not have to many spoilers in my review, you must go and see all that is Lord of the Rings for yourself.
The story must be quite clear by now. Sixteen rings have been made to be able to let the wisest of people of different races rule their people and country with great wisdom and kindness. What the dwarves, elves and humans did not know, was that the evil Lord Sauron made a ring for himself to rule the other rings. The One Ring!
The film begins and must not be missed for those who do not know Tolkiens work. In a clear voice, both Ian McEllen en Cate Blanchett tell the tale of the rings and the great battle between good and evil, a couple of thousands of years before our tale starts. Amazingly grande battles unfold before our very eyes, with great detail, powerful visuals and incredible amounts of actors and CGI effects. But, for the CG (computer graphic) haters, do not be alarmed. Almost every single piece of CG is either unspottable, necessary, or overwhelming. The story then shows us Gandalf who visits his old friend Bilbo on his eleventy-one birthday in the Shire. The party commences and at the end, Bilbo disappears and leaves the One Ring in the hands of his nephew Frodo (a masterperformance by Elijah Wood). Gandalf then tells Frodo that this Ring will only answer to Lord Sauron, no-one else, and must therefor be destroyed in the fire in which it was created. The fires of Mount Doom (sorry Tolkien, but that's a really cheesy name for a mountain). Frodo sets for Mordor, the evil land of Sauron, with his hobbit friends and later Gandalf himself, a dwarf (Gimli), an Elf (Legolas) and two humans (Aragorn and Boromir). LotR commences.
Lord of the Rings is beyond anything I have ever seen before. I do not dare to say that it is the best film I have ever seen, but it is most certainly up there with in the Top Ten of Great Cinematic Masterpieces. Every single actor was convincing. No, let me correct myself. Every single actor was his/hers character. There were, obviously, some actors that surpassed even my boldest expectations when it came to the realism of the famous Tolkien characters. Sir Ian McEllen, for example, did an amazingly good job on Gandalf. It would not surprise me if he told us that he had been wearing his costume every single moment of the day, because he wore his cloak with the great pride, kindness and wisdom that made Gandalf one of the most favourable characters in the books. Chapeau, Sir McEllen. Another remarkable appearance was that of Sean Bean as Boromir. He impressed me sincerely, when he showed us this man, who still finds pride in being a human, but becomes emotionally troubled by lack of hope and the power that the One Ring holds over him. Other amazing appearances were those of Liv Tyler (yes, LIV TYLER) who most certainly was able to prove that she CAN act and be extraordinary beautiful at the same time. But that goes for almost all actors who played Elves: Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett and Orlando Bloom as the straightforward, ultracool Legolas. Tough, magical and beautiful.
Even Viggo 'Jake from Melrose Place' Mortensen was intense as Aragorn. The only actor who was slightly disappointing, was our Dracula playing friend Cristopher Lee as Saruman, who had a bit too much 'Disney' in his character by waving around a golfball on a stick and coughing up some evil laughs or gazes.
Although LotR is pure cinematic lust for both eyes and ears, an epic of unrivaled magnitude, it sure had it's flaws. For one, it was slightly too long. Understandably so. It had to be rough for director Peter Jackson to cut and keep certain scenes, but my butt DID hurt when I left the theater. Another disappointing part of the film was the ending, which was a bit of an anticlimax. Though (thankfully) true to the book, it will leave moviegoers with an unsatisfying feeling when movie finally ends. We are used to films that have boombastic endings and if this lacks in a movie, we will easily write it down as a 'so-so' film. A shame really, because you have been watching an amazing movie. Helas, most movie-goers frequently judge a lot of films by their ending. Let's just hope they will not do this with LotR. Other flaws were some CGI scenes. When we see Saruman building his evil army for Lord Sauron, the camera swoops over his castle, then swinging down into the ground, revealing millions of Orcs hacking in the ground, using primitive wooden machines to help them with their evildoing. But the whole film is filmed quite reserved and when we see the (obviously) CGI sequence with the camera swooping back and forth and Orcs stepping away to 'let the camera pass', it will leave you with a bit of a 'thrillride' feeling. Odd, just a bit odd. Talking about CGI. Some sequences were never done before and Weta Digital pulled most of them off perfectly. Gollem and the Cavetroll for example, were done incredibly realistic and you will no doubt forget that it was done with computer. Other parts of the film, however, still have that 'fake' feeling. It will not bother you though, most of the time it's just a minor detail. I have to admit though, that I am not willing to see anymore grande panning shots of villages and buildings (Star Wars Episode 1-stylee) with a couple of CGI birds flying by to set the mood. It's getting a bit ridiculous now people.
So, although it has some flaws and a bit of an anticlimax ending, it is still a piece of filmmaking that kicks the crap out of big productions we have seen so far. And for people who like scares: there are at least two scenes you will definitely like, for it will scare the hell out of you.
Episode 1 is now nothing more than a CGI joke and Harry Potter nothing more than a long advert to sell books, Potter underwear and other Potter 'useless, but it has Harry on them' things.
No doubt in my mind that this film will amuse, amaze and entertain both fans and Joe Average alike.
9,5