Breathtakingly amazing doesn't cover it...

Rating: 10/10 (22 December 2001)

Now it's true, this movie is not an exact word for word adaptation from the novel but nevertheless Lord of the Rings is a gem. A shining star, a precious stone, a diamond admit a bunch of cubic zirconia. Use what ever analogy you wish but the end result remains the same. The Fellowship of the Ring was a book for the ages and has been translated with the same feeling and care into a movie for the ages.
The Good points, the musical score is fantastic, perfectly capturing the feeling of an epic movie. The visual shots of both the landscape, the creatures of middle-earth and the set pieces are created with stunning precision. The overall feeling of being transported to another world, the feeling of watching in awe, of being held captive on the edge of your seat from start to finish. This is all prevalent from the very start of the movie.
The Bad points, the understandable but still sad fact that some parts had to be cut out from the novel due to length. Also some of the back history which was part of the historical development was sadly missing. The camera work doing the fight scenes was a little shaky making some parts hard to view. But scenes like this always look better on the small screen of your dvd than on the big screen.
One undeniable fact though is that the cast of LOTR did an incredible job acting. The standouts are Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, and Viggo Mortensen. All three should get an Oscar nominations, the first two for Best Actor with Viggo for Best supporting. The rest of the cast though is not a let done, not even in the same realm. Liv Tyler portrays Arwen with a sense of majestic quality and a calm patience.
Christopher Lee of course, is the ultimate evil character, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan round out the talented list above with a solid performance by each. One in which each steals a moment and entraps their characters in your heart.
So for those who want to see a masterpiece come to life on screen, go see the Fellowship.