Even for someone who hasn't read the Tolkein books, this is one ambitious yet thoroughly comprehensible otherworld brought to life

Rating: 9/10 (5 October 2008)

As someone who hasn't read the JRR Tolkien books, this review is based solely on and from the movie on itself -- no external comparisons.
From the very first scene, I noticed that the movie was trying to be epic and there are a lot of things going on, not unlike other fantasy "universes" (e.g. Harry Potter). But FOTR tackles a far bigger universe than Harry Potter's -- and most of the time, it succeeds amazingly in its ambitious storytelling, without becoming convoluted or confusing.
One thing that I really admired about the movie was it's openness to newcomers to the LOTR series (like me), which is most evident in the opening scene where a dreamy prologue during an epic battle between the forces of Middle-Earth and Mordor forms the backbone of the story to follow. As a result of this narrative, the otherwise convoluting plot remains cohesive and "in one piece" throughout the movie -- without the prologue, I probably wouldn't have been nearly as involved in the movie's plot.
The movie's tone is generally serious and epic, complete with grandiose otherworldly dialogue -- but in an extremely smart move, FOTR doesn't compare itself to the "real world", but instead tries to suck you in a totally different universe, and as such, its combination of seriousness and optimism works without coming off as pompous or misplaced.
The production design of FOTR is one of the most ambitious and finest that I've ever seen to date, and wonderfully complemented by the beautiful New Zealander landscape and some truly epic cinematography. The acting is also top-notch all across the board. All elements of the "Fellowship of the Ring" are tightly held together by Peter Jackson's ambitious direction.
However, there are still some tweaks that could have been made. For one thing, there are a couple of very unnecessary moments, such as when Gandalf leads the Fellowship through the dangerous underground lairs of Mordor to escape from the Balrog - yet he fights (and loses) to the beast in the end. Why risk yourself and so many other people when he wanted to fight the beast in the first place? Otherwise, why even try facing the beast? The ending also didn't need to scream "there is going to be a sequel!" so loudly (so to speak) and would've been better if it was more gradual - but again, I haven't read the books, so it could just be my opinion from a moviegoer's perspective.
But these minor detractions aside, the Fellowship of the Ring is a great movie on its own and anybody who hasn't read the Tolkien books will be easily involved in the wonderfully realized otherworld and engaging characters and story of "Lord of the Rings" -- and those are qualities that any good movie, whatever its source is, should have. RATING: 8.5/10.