Quite literally the best film I have ever seen

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2001)

Only the Star Wars films could give me even half the amount of giddy anticipation I had for seeing Fellowship. As a longtime Tolkien fan I was counting the minutes until I could walk in, sit down and see if Peter Jackson had the capability to translate Tolkien's epic to the big screen. Well, not only was I so impressed I was left speechless, but I found myself thinking, for the first time, three hours is not enough. This movie left me so hungry for more that the wait for The Two Towers will be the longest of my entire life. I cannot say enough good things about this movie. Everything, EVERYTHING is so masterfully done that even those who know nothing of Tolkien and care nothing for fantasy will be impressed. I always knew Jackson was a good director (The Frighteners is one of my favorite movies), but here he has outdone not only himself but every director in the biz. Even Spielberg can't hold a candle to him. The production design was mind-blowing, and the CG characters SO realistic they put all other CG characters in all other movies to great shame. The actors were all beyond awesome, especially Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee. Elijah Wood makes the BEST Frodo any Tolkien fan could ever ask for. Liv Tyler surprised me; she was excellent as Arwen. The action in this movie was awe-inspiring. I went in knowing exactly how the story progressed, yet sequences like the trek through the Mines of Moria still scared the crap out of me, they were so well done. And the Balrog -- words do no justice! It truly has to be seen to be believed, and it will be believed! And we get to see just enough of Gollum to get an idea what he looks like... scary little creature, my precious! Everything about this movie is true magic. TRUE MAGIC. Never has a film captured me so completely before. I didn't want to leave the theater. I'm going to see it again tonight. I'll see it as many times as I can manage. If you haven't seen it yet, you honestly don't know what you're missing. I could pour my heart and soul out, and it would still pale in comparison to how much this movie blew me away. Do I sound like I'm exaggerating? I'm not. It's that good. This movie deserves a 10 out of 10, though I would have voted 11 were I so allowed. Go see it. Even if you don't like fantasy (and how could you not after seeing this), go see it. This is Tolkien done right.