Our ongoing series reviewing the greatest Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror movies. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.
Directed by: Peter Jackson
Produced by: Peter Jackson, Barrie M. Osborne, Tim Sanders
Written by: J.R.R. Tolkien (Novel) Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson (Screenplay)
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Liv Tyler
Original Release: 2001
Reviewed by: John J. Joex
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)
Synopsis: Based on the first book of J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved Lord of the Rings trilogy, this movie focuses on the Hobbit Frodo (Elijah Wood) and the grand adventures he would undertake. Hobbits are content little creatures that are shorter in stature than the humans they share Middle Earth with and are mostly satisfied with living a comfortable life in their small, homely villages. But Frodo has come into possession of the Ring of Power from his uncle Bilbo (whose adventures we followed in Tolkien’s previous book The Hobbit), and the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) wants him to carry it out of the Shire because he worries about the dark power it possesses. Frodo at first heads to the town of Bree at Gandalf’s request carrying the ring and traveling with three of his friends Sam (Sean Astin), Merry (Dominic Monaghan), and Pippin (Billy Boyd), though they discover that a sinister force pursues them. Once in Bree, this group meets up with the ranger Strider (Viggo Mortensen) who escorts them to the Elven city of Rivendale. However, Frodo is injured during an attack by the evil Nazgûl and must spend an extended time recovering in the city of elves. Once Frodo has overcome his injuries, Gandalf calls a council and informs the others that the ring the Hobbit carries is the One Ring of the evil necromancer Sauran which he seeks to reclaim and use to gain dominion over Middle Earth. The only way to destroy it is to cast it into the fires of Mount Doom where it was forged and someone must brave the long journey to carry out this task. Frodo agrees to take the ring and his Hobbit companions offer to accompany him. Also agreeing to go are Strider, the Elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom), the Dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and Boromir of Gondor (Sean Bean). This group along with Ganfalf comprises the “Fellowship of the Ring” and they depart from Rivendale on their perilous journey to thwart Sauran’s plans of conquest.
Review/Commentary: In the early years of the Blockbuster Era, we saw some impressive examples of Sword and Sorcery on the big screen such as Conan the Barbarian and Dragonslayer. But very few movies that followed in the genre over the rest of the 80’s and into the 90’s succeeded in recapturing the magic of these early entries. Instead, Sword and Sorcery derailed with films like the Conan sequel, the Tom Cruise vehicle Legend, and George Lucas’ expensive but tepid Willow, after which the genre found itself relegated mostly to the same B-Movie status that it and Science Fiction films had held prior to time when movies like Star Wars proved the Box Office appeal of big-budget spectacle. With The Fellowship of the Rings, though, Peter Jackson picked up where the earlier Sword and Sorcery films from the Blockbuster Era left off and re-energized the genre. Just like Star Wars delivered a fully realized Science Fiction/Fantasy tale to the big screen in all its glory back in 1977, Jackson’s film did the same with Sword and Sorcery in 2001. This grand, breathtakingly paced epic grabbed the audience from its opening moments and kept them engrossed in the film through its entire, extended running time (178 minutes for the original release and 208 minutes for the expanded version). Jackson takes the viewer on a rollercoaster ride of a film-making experience that, despite its long running time, never meanders or bores the audience. Like the original Star Wars, this film immersed us into its world and delivered that rare, fully engaging movie event.
But the movie gave us more than just a Blockbuster epic. A rich story lay at its core and several emotionally engaging themes intertwined throughout the film. Of course, J.R.R. Tolkien’s original story is one of the most cherished books of Fantasy literature, and while purists may scoff that Peter Jackson took many liberties with the source material, the fact is that he never lost touch with the spirit of Tolkien’s story. He made changes to accelerate the sequence of events and streamline the tale for its big screen adaptation, but he still respected the source material in a way that demonstrated his affection for Tolkien’s work. In the book, The Fellowship of the Ring delivered a tale about the sacrifices we must make for the greater good and also a story about the bonds of friendship and loyalty. And that came through quite clear in Jackson’s film, even if he did alter the course a bit and omit some beloved sections from the book (poor Tom Bombadil will apparently never make it to the big screen). And, unlike the two that would follow, this film delivers a mostly complete tale. Not that it resolves the fate of the ring, but it does provided a resolution of sorts to the tale of sacrifice and friendship that runs through its three plus hours.
Visually, this film took the 21st century Blockbuster to the next level, however, Jackson made judicious use of his hefty budget and CGI effects. Instead of simply assaulting the viewer with computer derived sensory overload like so many other films did over the past ten years, the special effects helped bring the world of Middle Earth to life in The Fellowship of the Ring. Jackson and his effects team recreated that sense of awe and wonder that had mostly disappeared from the Blockbuster genre after its first ten years or so. But once again, a movie brought to life a world of the fantastic that we could only imagine previously. And it almost never takes this to excess except for a few scenes in Moria, especially the rather superfluous extended descent down the stairs. To do such a good job at bringing to life a much-beloved world that people had experienced through the books for many years was quite an accomplishment for a film indeed. And of course the remarkable cast deserves notice as well. Jackson assembled an amazing troupe of talented actors that each seemed to perfectly fit their roles and that demonstrated a palpable chemistry. Can you imagine anyone other than Ian McKellan playing Gandalf or Elijah Wood playing Frodo or Sean Astin playing Samwise or Viggo Mortensen as Strider, and the same with the rest of the cast? It’s as if they were always meant to play these roles.
At 178 minutes in length for the original theatrical release, you might think this film would provide a tedious viewing experience. But trust me, that time flies by and I much prefer watching the extended version which tacks on an additional thirty minutes. So many movies that come out today pad out their running time unnecessarily whereas this film could barely cram everything in to its epic length. Credit the rich source material for that and also props to Jackson for keeping the film on course and not allowing it to derail or descend into cliche as a production like this could easily do. The next two films in the Lord of the Rings trilogy would not provide as satisfying of a viewing experience because they did not stand alone and they were much darker. But they are still essential viewing with The Fellowship of the Rings, the best of the three and probably the best Fantasy/Sword and Sorcery movie of all time.
Buy the Lord of the Rings Trilogy on Blu-ray from Amazon.com:
