Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

I am sure that everyone has been waiting to see when I would begin the reviews for Lord of the Rings. I have waited so long to review Lord of the Rings, simply because it is for me one of the toughest movies to completely put my thoughts out on how I feel about it. The Lord of the Rings is a fairy-tale of myth and fantasy. I will be the first to admit that I never saw this movie in the theaters. I thought this was ask geeky and nerdy of an idea that could be. Yet after finally seeing the first installment I regretted not getting the experience of this amazing movie at the theater.

Peter Jackson directed a film that was considered, for a very long time, impossible to make, and not only for technical reasons. The narrative roots are incredibly long and detailed, and the storyline is deeply connected with the creation of a fantastic continent from a time unknown called `Middle Earth'. It's author, Tolkien, dedicated a considerable part of his life developing this continent's background, it's mythology and origins, it's different kinds of people, cultures and languages, and therefore it's geographic references are determinant to the unfolding of the story of the One Ring.

While the directing is strong it would all be for naught if it was not backed up with a strong cast that would be able to breathe life into the characters. Ian McKellan portrays Gandalf with such an amazing strength and stoicism that you cant help but become endeared to Gandalf and his desire to protect the four young hobbits. The most surprising portrayal of all was Elijah Wood as Frodo. The actors were great, they were a lot into their characters, and for the first time, I saw elves as they were, quick, agile, terrifyingly effective in battle - just look at how Legolas deat with the hordes of enemies without a single hint of fear in his eyes - these are elves as they should be. Gimli was great too, I know people seem to think many characters were not developed enough, but by the actions you can learn a lot. With Gimli a lot can be learned about the dwarves, their pride, deep sense of honor and family, their mistrust of elves, their love for strong beer and a good fight against anything bigger, and their sheer hatred for orcs and the likes. Aragorn was totally the ranger character, the ending scene as he walked toward the horde of Uruk-Hai warriors was great, his attitude, his clothes, everything about him just cried "ranger". Boromir was very well depicted, desperate to save the people of Gondor, by any mean necessary, robbed of all hope, yet in the end he redeems himself by showing his true valour, deep down, he's willing to die to defeat evil, and when he recognizes his king in Aragorn, on his last breath, I felt like watching a hero die, it was moving.

The story, sets, special effects and costumes are so rich and amazing that it is absolutely necessary for you to have to watch over and over just to absorb everything. The New Zealand scenery is spectacular and it gives a variety of environments that help give huge contrast in areas of the characters' journey. While the on location sets are not only imaginative, but weathered which helps to give a greatness to their believability, the studio sets match the on location sets with amazing meticulousness. The great thing with the costumes is that they are not only strange but familiar at the same time. At the same time they used the special effects in such a way that they are unobtrusive and unnoticed most of the time, serving a great purpose to only support the story and not draw attention away from the story like most movies will use the special effects to cover-up plot holes and bad acting.

While for me this is probably not as action paced and moving as the other two movies within the trilogy. It ends up being the great movie that sets up most of the characters and the overarching story lines that take place throughout the remainder. It is amazing the cast of characters that signed on for this project and it is truly amazing how everyone becomes their character and lives as them. This movie set the standard for not only what book adaptations must meet, but what great movies need to become. I gave this movie four buckets of popcorn out of five. This is definitely a movie that everyone must have in their collection and I highly recommend getting the extended edition.

-The Movie Man-