Watch with your heart, not head

Rating: 10/10 (26 December 2001)

Positive and negative comparisons to the Star Wars movies (Trilogy and Phantom Menace) are inevitable for this production, but amidst the criticisms, I'm reminded of a few things:
Firstly, (of Phantom Menace) someone else said that, yes, you can get caught up in how annoying JarJar Binks is, or how silly all of the child parts are. But he reminded us that George (Lucas) had Phantom in mind as a movie that was *supposed* to appeal to children too, not just for adults...! "If you look at Phantom through the wondrous eyes of a child, it's not so bad", to paraphrase.
By contrast, Fellowship is not *nearly* as blatant a children's movie as Phantom was meant to be, as far as targeting the pre-teen or even young adult demo; thankfully, this production saves the kid fare for action-figure and Burger King marketing. I also get the feeling that any reasonable translation of the Lord of the Rings is meant to be fairly serious, given that Tolkien's inspiration for writing it was borne out of the tragedies of World War 2.
Secondly, ask yourself what kind of feeling you came away with when you saw it. Me? As a life-long fan of the story, I was very inspired by the tremendous attention to detail, and the heart with which the cast and crew poured 2 years (or so) of their lives into the Lord Trilogy - as evidenced in The Fellowship. It literally made me feel transported into their world, and although I know the story, I came away feeling like the $10 I spent was actually worth it in a LONG time. If you hate fantasy movies or 3-hour productions, I might recommend you to stay away. It won't convince anyone to convert who has a serious problem with this type of fare. But otherwise, PLEASE see this most lovingly made movie. Your main regret might be waiting for the other 2 thirds!