A great adaptation of a classic story

Rating: 9/10 (16 July 2009)

This is a great film, unlike most films that are the first part of a trilogy you really do have to watch the remaining films to get the most out of the story as there is no sense of closure at the end of the film, it is merely the end of one part of their quest and the beginning of the next. This is not a bad thing; just make sure you'll have enough time to watch all three films fairly close together. The film is very long but I don't think there were any scenes that could have been removed or trimmed so the length is justified.
I think the film followed the book fairly well, although I confess it has been a while since I read it. After a short prologue where we are given a history of The Ring. We then find ourself in the Shire, the home of the Hobbits; the wizard Gandalf has come to attend a birthday party for his old friend Bilbo Baggins. During the party Bilbo announces that he is going to be leaving the Shire, he then slips a ring onto his finger and vanishes into thin air. When he takes the ring off again he is confronted by Gandalf who tells him he must leave the ring behind when he goes as it is dangerous.
Unfortunately his use of the ring has been noticed by the evil Sauron who has dispatched nine wraiths; horsemen who's sole purpose is to retrieve the ring for their master. Gandalf instructs Bilbo's nephew Frodo to take the ring to Elves at Rivendell. On the way he and three Hobbit friends meet up with a mysterious man who helps them flee from the riders although Frodo is wounded and needs the Elves to recover. At Rivendell the group learn that their quest is not over, they must continue on to Sauron's land of Mordor where they can finally destroy the ring. The group are joined by Gandalf, an Elf called Legolas, Gimli the Dwarf and a man called Boromir.
This film doesn't go as far as Mordor, in fact it only shows the first part of the journey which will see our heroes battling Orcs, other strange creatures and their own desire for the power the ring may bring; not all of the group will survive.
As this is a fantasy film they are a lot of special effects, thankfully they are so well done that they don't look like effects even though we know they must be, I especially liked how they made the hobbits look so small, had I not seen the actors in other films it would have been almost possible to believe that the actors really were that short. Peter Jackson did a great job on this film getting a good performance from all his actors; a combination of well known veteran actors and young actors who will probably go onto be stars although I suspect this is the film they will be remembered for.