Great movie even if you are like me and know nothing about wizards, elves or spells.

Rating: 10/10 (18 January 2002)

First of all, let me just say that I know nothing about hobbits, elves, wizards or spells. I never read any of the Lord of the Rings books, nor have I ever got much into games like Dungeons and Dragons. Most of my knowledge about these sorts of things comes from when I went to see Harry Potter a couple of months ago, if that tells you anything about how little I know. While I wasn't very impressed with Harry Potter, ironically with Lord of the Rings I was.
If someone like me could be captured by this film, then just about anyone could be. It quickly gets you involved in the plot by summarizing how "the ring" got to where it is in the present time, therefore doing without the long drawn out boring beginning that so many movies have. The acting in it is superb, and there are so many different characters with their own personal trials and tribulations to deal with. I'd venture to say that there is a different character for just about every type of viewer out there to relate to. It is this quality which makes the movie so deep and is what makes it possible to keep your attention for the full 3 hours that it lasts. Three hours never went by so fast in a movie theater, I swear.

The only gripe I have with the movie, is that it doesn't provide any closure when it is over. As we all know, it is just the first installment of a series of 3 movies. Therefore of course the end of the movie isn't really the end of the whole story. However, in other trilogies, such as Star Wars (now more than a trilogy), each movie had it's own struggles which led up to a big catharsis in the end to provide the movie with some closure until the next one. However in Lord of the Rings, it just ends as if still in the middle of something. It feels like you're just going to a commercial break when it ends. So naturally now, you have to go see the second movie if for no other reason, because you left the first still waiting for the climax to take place.
All in all though, I gave this movie a 10. It's original and well done. Perhaps if movies in general weren't so lame in the past decade, this movie wouldn't be rated a 10, but rather an 8 or a 9. However considering what I am used to seeing, it's a 10.