First Impressions - Final Verdict

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2001)

I have just returned from seeing a midnight showing of the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, one of the first showings. My first impression of the film is that it is a work of art. It is stunning to the eye, and true the books. There have been minor alterations to the story to make it fit better into a film format, but the essence, and details that are important to the plot of the books has been captured with great detail. For a three hour long feature I was surprised to find that it did not feel so long. The film holds a good tempo, and keeps you interested. For those of you who have never read the books, the story has been explained, but not in a way that would lessen the experience for those who have read the books.
For those of you, who have never read the books, please remember that this film is three hours long, and for good reason. It is an adaptation of a story that helped to create a genre, and fantasy books today have evolved into a writing style that is somewhat faster in pace. This film, like the book that it represents, can take some patients to enjoy it.
My final verdict is that this film, and the following films will be winning many awards in the coming months, and they will become centerpieces to fantasy fans DVD libraries in years to come. I intend to see this film at the very least two more times, due to the wealth of details, for I feel that I did not see everything in the first sitting.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

J.R.R Tolkien (The father of contemporary fantasy)