Great Film but Fellowship Bond too weak

Rating: 8/10 (15 March 2002)

*good* The director conveys the will of the One Ring better than I imagine and better than I remembered from the book. Very very well done. *good* The cinematography is excellent. It's superb actually. The battle scenes and chase scenes are superb. *good* What the wearer of the One Ring sees is also beyond that conveyed in the book. Very interesting. *good* Every character was incredibly well-casted. It's hard to imagine a better cast selection. Except for maybe Elrond ... I expected someone more middle-aged. *good* 10,000 times better than that lame cartoon movie.
*neutral* In the book, it describes the mountains from a distance and the surroundings that the fellowship travel along. It transported the reader there. In the movie, many of these "slow" resting/meditative segments were skipped entirely. You hardly feel the warmth of the sun or the cold of the snow. *neutral* The fight between Gandalf and the Balrog in the Dwarf mine was lame. I was thinking Gandalf would shows off his real powers. The wizards are a special race sent from the West. Their spirits are magical but they are encased in the body of humans.
*bad* I read The Fellowship of the Ring when I was young. One thing that I remember strongly was the bonding of the fellowship. This doesn't happen at all in this movie. In the book, Gimli the Dwarf and the Elf slowly become close friends closing the distrust between Elves and Dwarves. This doesn't even happen in the movie. Even the closeness between Sam and Frodo seemed forced in the movie. Overall there is no convincing bonding between the fellowship at all except between Boromir and Frodo when Boromir is about to die and between Pippin and Merry. Even I felt Frodo's loss when Gandalf gets killed by the Balrog to be not convincing enough. When the fellowship breaks up at the end it felt like nothing ... it should have felt much stronger.