I haven't read the books...

Rating: Null/10 (22 December 2001)

There have been many reviews discussing the good and bad points of the LOTR, but most people seem to be giving a comparison to the books. I have never read them, so here's a point of view of the film.
It's long. Probably too long. That's not to say they could, or even should, have made it any shorter but somehow you don't feel as though time is passing as quickly as you would hope when watching a movie of such epic proportions.
For me, the film felt a little "flat". There were a few action, emotional and creepy scenes, but generally I never really felt a sense of excitement or tension. That is not to say I got bored, but I would have liked to feel stronger rushes.
People seem to have been disappointed by the lack of or portrayal of some characters, but I thought the actors (and special effects) did their job brilliantly. Gandalf truly comes across as a wise sage with deeper power, the hobbits seem like innocent children, and the other members of the "Fellowship", I thought came across very well. Yes, you don't see enough of Gimli, and perhaps Boromir (Sean bean) could have appeared more but I would say the point was made on the purpose and role of each and every character. Legolas/Orlando Bloom was a particularly likeable character.
My main comment, though, on the film is that it feels as though the entire plot of the trilogy has been condensed within this one movie, and the following two films are about resolving all that has happened in Fellowship. From the point of view of someone who doesn't know the story, like me, this is very important. I think LOTR *will be* a truly fantastic and wonderful trilogy, but Fellowship, certainly, on it's own feels as though too much is yet to be done and almost as though no enough has happened - bizarre as that may sound.
To give you a comparison, of you say Star Wars: A New Hope, and never saw the others, it wouldn't really matter. The story within that one movie has a beginning, middle and an end, and the audience is left satisfied. However, had you only ever seen Empire Strikes Back, you would be almost *too* interested in knowing what happens next, where the characters will go etc..
It is like this that Fellowship leaves an audience. I didn't think it was a story that was any more than a beginning - and since it's a trilogy, it obviously isn't meant to be any more than that, but it is a feature that I felt was abundently clear when leaving the cinema.
Still, all that aside, if you're the sort of person who is looking for an easy way to know what happens in the book (with slight alterations I would guess), or are looking for a highly impressive visually feast, then LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring will take you the first steps on a larger journey, then leave you, probably wanting to read the second book to know what happens...