Visually amazing and a great achievement

Rating: Null/10 (19 December 2002)

Okay, so there may be those who say The Lord of the Rings is for geeks who live with their Mom and debate over the smallest plot holes in Star Wars with other fellow geeks at the local comic book store. Well, the truth is that anyone who can't appreciate this movie just doesn't have the attention span to understand such a wonderfully epic story. And I have also heard complaints that this movie does not have an ending. Well of course it doesn't! It's the first in a trilogy, you dolts! As for the movie being boring, while there are some stretches of tedium, the film as a whole is wonderful. Every character, whether it be hero or villain, is well-acted and brought to life with craft. Who would have thought that Elijah Wood (star of Flipper and The Faculty, mind you), would make such a good Frodo? I should probably say right now that I have not read any of the books, which I see as a plus. The big problem I have with watching the Harry Potter movies is that I already know what is going to happen, so they are not as fun as the Lord of the Rings. With this trilogy, everything is fresh and surprising. I dug the immense amount of CGI and other types of special effects, but the more traditional costumes and insanely realistic makeup was also impressive. I say that directors should incorporate more traditional effects like puppetry and animatronics into their films as opposed to computer-made effects. Yes, yes, the CGI costs less and is easy to produce, but then everyone complains about how 'CG' something looks. The only thing I can see Peter Jackson having to use so much were the green screen effects, since most of the sets would be far too expensive to make in a studio or soundstage. Anyway, to wrap up, this may be a little long for some people (especially in a theater, where afterwards my entire body ached), but if you enjoy swords and sorcerey epics laden with battles, other languages, and fearsome monsters beyond imagination, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a good choice. I would buy it instead of renting it, since it is that impressive. Can't wait to see the next installment, The Two Towers, soon! 4/4 stars