when the film was over, i was not disappointed

Rating: 10/10 (23 December 2001)

I have read the books. This is important. It is all fine and good for somebody who has read the books, is a fan, and has been waiting for most of his life to see these films, to say that it was a fantastic movie. It is quite another thing for someone who has not read the books, has never known the story, and didn't have any expectations, to say that this is a fantastic movie. It is a fantastic movie. I have been a fan for over 12 years and have read the trilogy, and many books relating to the trilogy, and many essay's written on the trilogy, time and again. When I first heard that a film trilogy was being made, about three years ago, I was ecstatic. My excitement never died, but as opening night drew closer I found myself more worried about how faithful an adaptation the films would be. Were all the fantastic reviews I had read true? Were all the horrible reviews I had read true?
As a fan of the source material there were two ways I could have viewed the film, as a fan or as a purist. As I am not a purist when it comes to film adaptations from books, I chose not to hold the fact that Peter Jackson did not make a nine-hour Fellowship film against him. With the three hours he had to work with he made a film that included as much out of Fellowship as he could have. There were changes in the film, from beginning to end. I saw all through the film things that did not match the book, things that were not right, even some things that struck me as completely unnecessary changes. I thought that it moved very quickly from point to point. I thought that the action sequences seemed to come one after another with very little time for much anything else. All these things I thought as I watched this film. And when it was over, I was amazed. I knew just what I needed to know about all the characters, and I felt about them all just how I needed to feel. I knew exactly where in the story we were at, and had no problem understanding what was going on. Amid the stunning landscapes, and CGI created caverns, and action shots followed by action shots, Peter Jackson had managed to magnificently tell the story of the Fellowship of the Ring. He had managed to tell the story so well, that despite all the changes and all the omissions and all the action, I had nothing bad to say about this film.
The trick, though, is having people who are unfamiliar with the story feel the same way. When people who have not read the books walk away from this film, do they know where the story is? Do they understand what all has happened? Are they as impressed with the story as they may have been if they had read the books before the films had been announced? Overall it seems that they have. Several of my companions to the show had not read the books and knew only what they had managed to retain from the cluster of information I have managed to confuse them with. These companions walked away fans of the story, every bit as impressed with the film as I was.
And that is all I have to say about the Fellowship of the Ring.