At last!!! The legend has come to life!!

Rating: 10/10 (2 February 2002)

The first time I came out of the theater after watching this brilliant adaptation, I felt totally satisfied, mentally and spiritually! I will go on to describe different categories of the movie in some detail in the hope it will help others better understand this timeless story.
First of all, if you do not like fantasy at all. DO NOT SEE THIS! This is as fantasy based as you can get. After all, it is thought by many to have been the definition of fantasy epics ever since the books came out in the 50s.
The landscapes, movies sets, environment,etc., are all spectacularly done. Hobbiton looked exactly as I had imagined it, considering all the work they put into making that set, it came out the way it should. New Zealand was probably the perfect place to create all the imaginary lands that we will see. Bree looked like it should, a small, rough village. Rivendell looked great, the Mines of Moria were of course spectacular. I thought Lothlorien looked very nice. Some people complained about how we didn't see hardly any of it. But on my second time watching I did notice more of it then the first time. And I thought the river area in the ending scenes was perfect for the events that happen there. I think Jackson did good by Tolkien and couldn't have been done any better.
I thought every single actor did a very heartfelt, wonderful job. Elijah Wood made a wonderful Frodo. Ian McKellen makes a stupendous Gandalf the Grey. Viggo Mortensen makes Aragorn come to life. I thought Sean Astin made a nice, very loyal and simple Samwise Gamgee. Dominic Monoghan and Billy Boyd did a good job as Merry and Pippin, although in this movie they were mostly the comic relief which isn't a bad thing, but they did do a couple of important things in the book which would have been nice to see but that is a minor complaint. Ian Holm is Bilbo Baggins! Also, Christopher Lee is Saruman! I have always liked Christopher Lee and I can't wait to see him in the next two movies, and Episode II! I was disappointed not to see Brad Dourif as Grima Wormtongue, but then I haven't read the book in awhile and I'm not sure how big a role he plays in this stage of the story. Even though I would have preferred the movie to stay more faithful to the book, I can't complain about Liv Tyler's Arwen. For one thing, she really isn't in that much of the movie. Secondly, I have noticed a few people complaining about the romance between her and Aragorn as being stupid or unnecessary or simply thought it wasn't in the story. Well, for your information she is in the books and they are in love. I thought it made sense in a way to expand her role a little bit. And lastly, she played the part very well. Hugo Weaving did a fine job as Elrond. Sean Bean did a great job as the conflicting character of Boromir. Cate Blanchett did a great job as the piercing and mysterious Galadriel. Finally, John Rhys-Davies and Orland Bloom were the perfect Gimli the dwarf and Legolas the elf. Some people have said they thought John Rhy-Davies was wasted in this role. They need to understand that this isn't a John Rhys-Davies film. In this film he is supposed to be a dwarf! And that is exactly what he is! You just couldn't get enough of the archery skills of Legolas.hehe The perfect cast for this story!
Peter Jackson was very faithful to the story. It was inevitable to have left out the minor details and a couple of the somewhat important parts in the story. But as others have already said, if you were to include everything the movie would probably be around 9 hrs. long! The story began just like it should. It proceeded at the correct pace, even though some people didn't like this, that is just the way Tolkien wrote it. And it ended almost identically to the book which I actually liked. Some people didn't like this and others thought that they screwed up with the ending. My advice is to read the book, and it is meant to be a cliff hanger. I can sympathize though, because I don't want to wait a year either!
I thought the sound effects and music were well done and were perfectly suited for the movie. The special effects were simply great. Fortunately, the movie still felt very realistic, and it just takes you into its world! I have to say that I loved the Balrog!! When me and my dad saw the animated version years ago, the Balrog in that film didn't match his imagination and it didn't really match mine either. But this time, I thought the Balrog was perfect!!! Another thing that has bothered me is that some people have said that this is simply just a movie full of fighting or its "walk, fight, walk, fight". I have to disagree because:
SPOILERS!!
1) The opening fight sequence barely lasts 2 to 3 minutes. 2) Unless you consider; the little tiff Gandalf and Saruman have, the brief semi-fight sequence between Strider and The Black Riders, the chase scene of Arwen and Frodo by The Black Riders, the duel of the wizards on the snow peaks, and the encounter with the sea monster at the gate of Moria; actual fight scenes, the next one doesn't show up until they are well into The Mines of Moria. And, even that isn't that long. 3) The next and final fight scene is when Boromir dies and Merry and Pippin are captured. This is probably the longest fight scene in the movie, but there's plenty of good interaction in the middle of it which means it isn't all mindless fighting, and even then it isn't too long. 4) So if you add up everything I have just said: 3+2+3+4+3+3+7+10 is approximately 35 minutes of fighting! And in my humble opinion, some of that isn't a real mindless battle scene! 35 minutes out of 3 hrs. does not make the movie one big fight fest, in my mind.
Anyway, I just wanted people to understand that this movie is mostly about substance with a minimum of actual violence. I hope this movie wins some awards later on! I can't wait next year for The Two Towers, and the year after for The Return of the King!! This will be one of the greatest trilogies of all time!