The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) New Line Cinema/Action-Adventure-Fantasy RT: 208 minutes (Extended Version) Rated PG-13 (intense scenes of action and violence, frightening creatures and images) Director: Peter Jackson Screenplay: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson Music: Howard Shore Cinematography: Andrew Lesnie Release date: December 19, 2001 (US) Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler, John Rhys-Davies, Sean Bean, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Ian Holm, Marton Csokas, Andy Serkis. Box Office: $315.5 million (US)/$871.5 million (World)
Rating: ****
WOW! FREAKING WOW! That’s the only way to describe Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. It was a mammoth undertaking that could have yielded disastrous results under a less capable filmmaker. When Jackson (Dead Alive, The Frighteners) decided to adapt J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved fantasy books for the big screen, he made a tacit pledge to the millions of fans that he wouldn’t botch it up.
I have to admit that I didn’t read the books as a teenager; I had this notion that they were for the sci-fi geeks and nerds who played Dungeons and Dragons every weekend instead of chasing girls. I decided to read them before seeing the movie as I heard it would be impossible to follow the action on screen without a working knowledge of the story. Now here’s where I get to show you how much of a procrastinator I am. I literally finished each book within hours of seeing each movie for the first time. I attended special midnight shows for each of the films the night before they opened and got a real kick out of the devoted fans that showed up wearing costumes. No, I wasn’t making fun of them, I was actually pretty impressed.
Anyway, the LOTR trilogy consists of three books/movies- The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. They are all excellent! The LOTR trilogy is my second favorite sci-fi/fantasy trilogy after the original Star Wars movies (Darth Vader forever! Darth Hayden never!). Each movie itself in epic in scope and narrative, but together they make one awesome saga that takes the viewer to a world known as Middle-earth. It’s a universe occupied by wizards, elves, dwarfs, Orcs, men and hobbits (peaceful diminutive humanoid creatures with hairy feet). It’s a world where good and evil exist and armies fight it out in massive battles.
The first movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, introduces us to the major characters that set out on a journey to destroy an evil ring that corrupts anybody who comes into possession of it. That’s the basic story of the trilogy, but there’s just so much background and so many details that I can’t explain the plot of the movie in any great detail lest I should write something as long as one of the books. What to tell you and what not to tell you …. it’s a real conundrum.
It’s my thinking that mostly everybody knows the story to some degree. Everybody has either read the books, seen the movies or (in most cases) both. I’m only going to concern myself with The Fellowship of the Ring at this point. In the Second Age of Middle-earth, the dark lord Sauron attempts to conquer Middle-earth with the “One Ring”. We all know the words to this, “One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them …..” Basically, this ring contains pure evil and malevolence. It grants the wearer the power of invisibility. It also corrupts the owner beyond the point of no return.
As the movie opens, it’s in the possession of Bilbo Baggins (Holm, The Fifth Element), a hobbit who resides in The Shire. He’s about to celebrate his 111th birthday. His friend, the wizard Gandalf the Grey (McKellen, Gods and Monsters), comes for the celebration. After a massive party, Bilbo decides to leave the Shire and passes the ring on to his nephew Frodo (Wood, Sin City). Upon learning the true nature of the ring, Gandalf orders him to leave the Shire before Sauron’s forces arrive to reclaim it. He’s accompanied by his friend Samwise Gamgee (Astin, The Goonies) and two mischievous hobbits named Merry (Monaghan, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and Pippin (Boyd, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World).
Eventually, the hobbits end up in the Elven outpost of Rivendell accompanied by a stranger who calls himself Strider (Mortensen, A History of Violence). This is where the “Fellowship” is formed. The hobbits, Gandalf and Strider are to be joined on their quest by the elf Legolas (Bloom, the Pirates of the Caribbean movies), the dwarf Gimli (Rhys-Davies, Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Boromir (Bean, Goldeneye), the prince of Gondor.
The only way to destroy the One Ring is to throw it into the fires of Mount Doom in Mordor, the place where it was originally forged. Sauron’s forces are in vigorous pursuit of the One Ring in the form of Orcs (monstrous and malevolent creatures) and the Nazgul (nine evil beings on horseback). Frodo leads the perilous journey to Mordor. What I’ve just given you here is an overview of the plot. I can tell you that Frodo’s quest is very eventful and exciting; I really don’t want to spoil any of the surprises.
Allow me to reiterate my initial statement ….. WOW! FREAKING WOW! I’ve seen The Fellowship of the Ring about eight or nine times now (three times at the movies, five or six viewings of this extended version) and it never fails to amaze me. I really like that Jackson decided to release extended versions of the trilogy on DVD; each movie feels so much more complete.
Artistically, I don’t think anybody (except maybe Tolkien himself) could have done a better job of bringing the universe of Middle-earth to full cinematic realization. Jackson makes excellent use of the New Zealand locations. It’s every bit as impressive as the worlds imagined in the Star Wars movies. He taps into the imagination of many a fan and makes Middle-earth seem almost tangible. Moreover, the cinematography is wonderful. The Fellowship of the Ring is always as gorgeous (the Shire, Rivendell) and as ugly (Mount Doom) as it needs to be. No matter what, the viewer will be hesitant to look away as each frame is like an elaborate illustration in a graphic novel adaptation of this story.
The entire cast does a tremendous job; each actor seems perfect for his/her role. Stand-outs include Christopher Lee (The Curse of Frankenstein) as Saruman the White (the wizard that betrays Gandalf), Liv Tyler (Armageddon) as the half-Elf Arwen (and Aragorn’s love interest) and Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth) as Galadriel, the Elven co-ruler of Lothlorien. I’d also like to point out the brilliant motion-capture performance of Andy Serkis as the wretched creature Gollum. He covets the ring as it was in his possession for 500 years until Bilbo took it. Like I said, there are a lot of details to convey to the audience and the writers do an excellent job of sorting them out. Whereas some filmmakers might leave out several details and plot points, Jackson keeps in as much as possible while still maintaining a sense of coherency. In my opinion, this version is a thousand times better than the 1978 animated version from Ralph Bakshi (Fritz the Cat).
Most importantly, The Fellowship of the Ring is a brilliant introduction to one of the most epic fantasy/sword-and-sorcery trilogies of all time. It will entice the audience to come back for the remaining two films. Special effects, make-up, production design, costume…. all great! It’s a masterpiece in every sense of the word.
