Breathtaking scenary, rousing fight scenes, and much more bring Tolkien's classic to life

Rating: Null/10 (8 August 2002)

I have not read Tolkien's trilogy so I cannot judge THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGS on how accurately it portrayed the story in the novel. What I saw of it was amazing and captured my imagination so that I want to pick up the trilogy, plus THE HOBBIT and read about the wonderful world of Middle Earth myself.
I was expecting the movie to jump around a lot and have a week plot, seeing as how it's an epic tale, and an epic is hard to accomplish in just under 3 hours. Had I read the novel first I imagine I would have to say it jumped around. But since I did not, I can say as a movie, THE FELLOWSHIP stands strongly on it's on. The plot flows surprisingly smoothly, with not many plot holes.
The acting in the movie adds to its greatness. I've always been a fan of Elijah Wood, so I was looking forward to seeing him portray Frodo. He did an amazing job presenting the young, idealistic Hobbit who's given the task of a lifetime. The other Hobbits were awesome as well. I thought they were all quite adorable. Their non-Hobbit companions were also well acted. I've never thought of Elves as being tall beings, but now I've got to change that way of thinking :D I admit at times I was frustrated by the lack of power which Gandalf (played by the always brillian Ian McKellen), but that is not the actor's fault, but my own high expectations of the power of wizards.
The world of the Hobbits and other Tolkien creatures, is an amazingly beautiful one. I can't wait to visit New Zealand!! Although much of it is obviously computer generated or enhanced, it is one of the most visually beautiful movies with it's landscapes during some of the 'lighter' scenes.
The movie does have a lot of violence, but it's not extremely gory. There are several fight scenes which can get tedious, but they are part of the plot, so it's hard to complain too much about them.
Overall I rate the movie a **** and a half stars out of *****. I have to take the half star away because I feel the plot and characters could have been stronger, though it would have surely added another hour or so to the movie. From what I know of the books, the movie does seem to do a good job of bringing the themes of Tolkien's novel to the screen. It's always nice to have an 'action' movie bring up some deeper points.
I'm looking forward to the next two movies in the trilogy. I hope they do so well that THE HOBBIT is even brought to the screen. And for all of you who took the time to read my long review :D I hope you enjoy it too. It's a modern classic that has a lot to teach! Enjoy!!