The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001) Reivew

Believe it or not, I only watched this trilogy the other day...I haven't even watch the last one yet. I may be a fan of nerd fandom such as Star Wars but Lord of the Rings is something I have never got round to watching...until now. The Hobbit is coming out at the end of this year and I thought it was finally time to enter Middle Earth...took me long enough. Without further adieu, here is my review for the first film in the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy: Fellowship of the Ring.

Many years ago, golden rings were carved and shared between the races on Middle Earth. When an evil lord named Sauron (Sala Baker) forged his own ring, the ring of power, he was killed and the ring was believed to be lost.  This ring is basically the master ring...and is found by a creature named Gollum (Andy Serkis) until it was lost again and picked up by a Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm). Jump sixty years later and Bilbo is now one hundred and eleven years old. His realtive Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and Bilbo's old friend Gandalf (Ian McKellen) arrive to celebrate his birthday but reveals that the ring is giving off evil power. Frodo, Gandalf and other Hobbits Samwise (Sean Astin), Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) set off to destory the ring in the fires from within Mt. Doom in the land of Mordor with the assistence of Aragron (Viggo Mortensen), Boromir (Sean Bean), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies).

I was hooked when watching this and didn't want it to end. That may be due to either that it was such a grand adventure or it was just so long that I didn't think it would have an ending. I'm not sure if the fact it's too long is a problem or not...it worked out for the Dark Knight trilogy. Sorry to start wit a nit pick but from now on it's nothing but praise. This film was one hell of an adventure. I was sucked in right away and grew to love the characters. I've never had such an immersive feeling with a film before. It's incredible. You begin to understand the world that this world is in and accept it for what it is. The ultimate fantasy film.

The characters are the best bit about it. All of them are well developed and incredibly well written. You fear for them as they face all kinds of danger and you generally want to see them succeed in their quest. If I had to pick I would say that both Aragorn and Sam are my favourite characters. Aragorn is the films typical badass character while Sam is the suprising character that I didn't think I would like but ended up really enjoying him. This film looks absolutly incredible. One of the best looking live action films I've ever seen. The landscapes are beautiful and the characters look perfect. I never read the book but I can only imagine they live up...I mean...no-one seems to have complained...right?

The Fellowship of the Ring is an incredible beginning to one of the most beloved trilogies of all time. The characters are great and memorable with some amazing acting to accompany it (Viggo Mortensen got so into the role that Peter Jackson called him Aragorn and he didn't even notice!). The visuals are mind blowing and really help enhance the atmosphere of Middle Earth. What for can I say? It's an incredible film that builds immersion in a way I've never felt before. A cinematic treat if you are patient.

Verdict:
9/10
An incredible way to start of an incredible franchise...you've won be over, Mr. Jackson.