Stunning, Visionary, Beautifully Made, Gorgeous Looking Epic Of J.R.R. Tolkien's Classic Fantasy Adventure

Rating: 8/10 (19 October 2014)

In the world of Middle-earth, a lowly hobbit, Frodo Baggins, is entrusted with a daunting mission; he must go on a long and dangerous journey to destroy the powerful One Ring in the evil country of Mordor. Crossing strange lands filled with both foe and friend, has he the strength of character needed to fulfil this perilous quest ?
This fabulous, thrilling, exquisite and beautifully realised telling of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic adventure classic is a joyous experience from start to finish. An incredible achievement from director / co-writer / co-producer Jackson, he has not only done justice to Tolkien's epic book, but breathed new life into the characters and adventures. Despite its length the movie never drags, but also never compromises on design, detail and atmosphere. It truly transports us to a banquet of breathtaking places - the peaceful gardens of the Shire, the beautiful Elven city of Rivendell, the gloomy Mines of Moria, the enchanted forest of Lothlorien, many many more. Even minor locations such as the Prancing Pony Inn where Frodo first meets Aragorn, are stunningly well crafted. The key to all fantasy filmmaking is to spend time to create the world of the story and in this respect the film is faultless. Equally brilliant however is the writing and acting, which is pitched at exactly the right level. The characters are larger than life, but all the performances are so sincere that the many emotional moments never fail to deliver. Everybody is good and perfectly cast for their part. I love all the characters but my favourite is definitely Sam, who has none of the powers or importance of the others but always seems to me the most noble and heroic of all. As much care has been lavished on all the aspects of the production, from Howard Shore's beautiful string score/choral score to the fabulous visual effects by Jim Rygiel and Richard Taylor. The movie uses effects in a truly evocative way, epitomised by the scenes where Gandalf is trapped atop the Tower of Isengard while Saruman's orc minions plunder the earth below. This is also perhaps the most enjoyable of the trilogy, setting up the odyssey and bringing the disparate characters together in their shared predicament. It's full of terrific scenes, such as the encounter with the Nazgul on the road, the siege on Weathertop Hill, the fight with the cave troll, Gandalf's heroic stand against the Balrog and Boromir's tragic demise. I have only one small issue with the movie - the Arwen character; Tyler's performance is fine, as is the writing, but I think she is an unnecessary fabrication for the films (she really only appears in detail in an appendix of the book) and has too much significance. In the book, Frodo makes it on his own across the river to Rivendell - her saving of him in this movie undermines his bravery and stoicism and is an unnecessary alteration in a work so profoundly faithful to its source material in every other respect. This does not detract however from what is a near perfect adventure film, rich in mythology and breathtaking in its visual splendour. Shot all over Jackson's native New Zealand in truly beautiful locations - watch out for the man himself in a brief walk-on as a wet carrot crunching rube in the town of Bree. A magnificent adaptation of a truly timeless adventure story.