Plot
After the forging of a powerful ring called the 'One Ring' which has the ability to control all the other rings in MiddleEarth, the Dark Lord Sauron is confronted in a brutal and bloody battle. As he falls to his death the ring starts to travel. Years latter the powerful ring is picked up by a Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins. When it comes time for Bilbo to go on his own journey of discovery he, under the watchful eye of his old friend Gandalf the wizard, hands the ring to Frodo. Gandalf becomes increasingly suspicious of the rings power and when confronting the head wizard, realises that the ring must be destroyed. This starts young Frodo out on an epic journey, accompanied by Gandalf and 7 others, to locate the place where the ring was made before Lord Sauron gathers his Dark forces and once again threaten MiddleEarth.
Analysis Who would have thought that such an important 'novel to cinema' conversion would be bestowed upon a man who's previous Directional outings consist of such wonderfully named movies as 'Braindead' and 'Bad Taste'. Although early in his now blooming career, bother titles mainly involved Mr. Jackson's mates running around the countryside acting in a very strange manner, fighting aliens and chopping up zombies. All very gory and entertaining but not exactly the stuff a Hollywood legend is made of, so to be given the chance to helm the three part epic translation of the Tolkien classic 'Lord of the Rings' left me a little weary.
The Fellowship of the Ring is the first of three movies that follow the story of 'The One Ring' and the brave, but strange races of men that are tasked with it's protection. This is pure fantasy indulgence and never makes any attempt to be anything else. The first thing of note is the shear scale on which this project has been produced on. We are talking along the lines of Gladiator times ten. Every individual scene has been constructed to represent the fairy tale land in which it is based. From the battle grounds of the opening scene (which is a marvel to watch on the big screen) to the Elven city of Rivendale and the dark and dangerous dwarf mines are all detailed marvelously and really draw you into the story.
The running time of the film stands at a bum numbing 3 hours. So does the film contain enough twists, turns, action and surprises to avoid the customary watch glancing that sometimes goes hand in hand with other movies of similar length? Well I can say without a doubt that there was so may fascinating events unfolding subtly on the screen that the film has been improved upon by it's running time. Not once did I feel I was being force fed the story but instead felt I was being gently swept along with the events. The continual change in pace meant that after a furious battle scene you would get a nice dialogue section to keep the flow.
When filming some of the cast spent two birthday's in New Zealand and the core nine had tattoos of the number 9 to represent their unique experience. The 'unique' word is the key here. As Star Wars was to Science Fiction, The Fellowship of the Ring is to Fantasy. The following two movies, I believe, will be just as popular as the follow up flicks to Star Wars were. A unique epic that has done J R R Tolkien proud.
One thing to be aware of. In front of me in the cinema sat a young boy about 9 years old with his mum. He looked very eager at the prospect of seeing cute little dwarves and elves playing around on the screen. His face was soon turned upside down when Lord Sauron appeared on the screen in a dark, smeltering wasteland and began killing people. He managed about 15 minutes before his mum removed him, crying. Although in the UK it is rated PG, in my mind it should have been a Certificate 12. There were some genuinely scary moments that caught even me, a hardened horror freak, by surprise. Parents be warned.
Key Area |
Rating (out of 5)
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Comment |
Action
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The battle scene at the start of the film is one of the best I have ever seen, beating similar style moments in Gladiator and The Mummy Returns. After that you can expect plenty of sword and sorcery melee and loads of dark hordes clashing in style with the forces of righteousness. Yeah, bring it on!!
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Thrills/
Tension
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Some great build ups to the action scenes that leave you a little damp in the pant's area. Sit close to the younger viewers as they might fold under the pressure.
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Violence/
Gore
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Gore factor is low due to the PG13 rating but it does contain a moderate amount of violence. Due to the deliberate nature of the cinematography, this is mainly shown in a fast and frantic close-up style that allows only a glimpse of violence but exaggerates the action.
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Bare Flesh
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NONE
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It's an adult fairytale, but it's not that adult.
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Plot
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A story so historic and familiar before it was made into a film could not really go wrong as far as the plot is concerned. I am glad to see that the Tolkien novel was adhered to and respected.
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Verdict Like a trip to Disney Land, you would be missing an experience if you did not go and see it. A true cinema masterpiece that has been handled with care, respect and true professionalism. Peter Jackson has come a long long way from his directorial birth and I look forward to his next two films. Catch this classic now.
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The most dazzling fantasy film ever seen.
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Facts, figures and boobs
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Stuart Townsend was originally cast as Aragorn, but was replaced with Viggo Mortensen after four days of shooting due to creative differences. |
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Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King were all filmed simultaneously. |
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New Zealand's army was cast as extras for large battle scenes in the film, but was forced to back out due to having to serve as peacekeepers in East Timor. |
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When the trailer was released on Internet on 7 April 2000, it was downloaded 1.6 million times in the first 24 hours. |
5. |
Viggo Mortensen lost a tooth while filming a fight sequence. He went to the dentist on his lunch break and had it patched up, and returned to the set that afternoon. |
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Director Peter Jackson played a cameo part as the belching peasant, outside the Prancing Pony Inn in Bree. |
7. |
More than 1,600 pairs of latex ears and feet were used during the shoot, each 'cooked' in a special oven running 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There was no way of removing the feet at the end of the day without damaging them and so each pair could only be used once. The used feet were shredded to prevent a black market in stolen hobbit feet but apparently Dominic Monaghan (Merry) kept a pair. |
What other people thought of this film: - |
Danielle |
It is the best ever i think it should go on and on ohh and keep legalas in the movie he is cute orlandobloom is awsome hes what makes the movie
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Ancalima
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This is my favourite movie ever, Viggo Mortensen and especially Orlando Bloom are hot!
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Nikon |
I love Liv Tyler :D |
Christine Caldwell |
I am not into flims or being a fan of no such thing but this flim rocks. i have a scrap book due to legalas. he is a true beati. my children do not watch the tv when this movie or the two towers is on. there should be more movies to relate to the world world the rest of the story
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Nataly |
The thing I just wanna say that its amazing and i loved it. |
Grace |
This is one of my favorite movies. the actors were great and so was everything else about the movie. |
Brittany |
I loved it! Especially since Orlando Bloom was in it!! He is so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Kacey |
What an epic adventure! One of my top favorite films of all time. Jackson outdid himself, and brought Middle Earth to life.
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