A worthy beginning to a legend

Rating: 8/10 (4 December 2004)

The Fellowship of the Ring is quite astounding. Having known and loved the books, I looked at this film with raised eyebrows. However, after seeing it, I came out with a dropped jaw.
The first few minutes alone just blew me away. Lord the Rings is a very complicated and a lesser director than Peter Jackson would have gone straight in on the Party and got the audience unredeemable lost. However, Peter Jackson did not do this. He used the wonderfully mystic voice of Cate Blanchett to do a superb prologue that really does give all the information needed. The moment I heard here say "The world is changed..." I knew it was going to be a treat.
On a Tolkien fan level, it was just so amazing to see all of Tolkien's wonderful come to life on screen - and so vividly. And on a film-goer experience I loved the film, and was entertained on a sophisticated and never the less exciting level. The casting and acting was just superb. Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, John Rhys-Davies, Ian Holm, Cate Blanchett, Sean Bean, Liv Tyler and Hugo Weaving were excellent as their respective characters, bringing Tolkien's creations to life. I think Ian McKellen as Gandalf should get a special mention, as I think he brought Gandalf to life perfectly. He portrayed his caring, kind, intelligent yet wise personality brilliantly.
The story was told well, and New Zealand provided an excellent backdrop for the film. Peter Jackson certainly knows how to interpret the book in an audience friendly manner. Importantly though, I found that there was enough mention of other Tolkien elements to make it similar to the book, especially in the extended version.