A fantastic start to a perfect trilogy

Rating: 10/10 (16 May 2008)

Fellowship of the Ring is a excellent start to the Lord of the Rings films. It made Peter Jackson into a mainstream director, helped made it stars into true A-listers, helped the New Zealand film industry, used some great CGI and helped made fantasy films into a major genre. It was also a risk for the people involved because if it had failed it would have destroyed many peoples careers and New Line Cinema properly would have gone bankrupt.
The basic plot the film is the Dark Lord Sauren was aiming to take control of Middle-Earth and if it had the Ring he would be unstoppable. However, he lost the ring 2000 years before hand in battle. The Ring fell into the hands of a Hobbit called Bilbo Baggins and he ends up giving it to his nephew. Frodo is then send on a quest to Riverdale before a group was formed to take the Ring to the Mount Doom to destroy it. The group content four Hobbits (human like creatures that are half the size), two men, an elf and a dwarf. During there part of the quest they have to fight orcs and the Ring's power starts to corrupt some people.
The book was a great story and J.R.R. Tolkien was great author. Peter Jackson was very loyal to his work in the first part of the trilogy. He only cuts out bits that didn't advance the story. I can understand his reasons for cutting out Tom Bombadillo, but it would have been nice to have a little nod to him. Jackson was also loyal to way Tolkien describes Middle-Earth and reading the books and watching the films it was exactly how I pictured it in my head. As well as the story it has great action, and little bits of humour, especially with the Hobbit and between Legolas and Gimli. The film also has a great cast, from stage actors like John Rhys-Davies and Ian McKellen, to big starts like Hugo Weaving and Liv Tyler, to people at the time who were modest actors like Elijah Wood and Viggo Mortensen. The cast had a very international favour, having actors from Britain, American, Australia and New Zealand.
Tolkien's books have also have been interpreted in a number of ways. It has been seen as a metaphor for World War Two, a homage to the soldiers of World War One, a criticism of industrialisation and support a life in peace with nature. It was also influenced by the Viking Sagas and Celtic culture. The Elvish language was based on Welsh.
If you plan on watching the Lord of the Rings films you should the extended versions. You should also consider reading the books. It does miss out a few things, but nothing too important.