Lord Of The Rings : The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001)

Making a film version of Tolkien’s epic 3-volume “Lord of the Rings” story is not an easy task. Ralph Bakshi’s attempt at producing a cartoon version of the story is widely derided so whatever one might think of Peter Jackson’s attempt, you have to admire his bravery for attempting such a daunting project. Filmed in three parts, with only the movie versions of the first two books currently released it’s difficult to say for sure how successful the project is, but on the basis of the first film it looks as if Jackson may not have a perfect adaptation of Tolkien’s books, but he’s as close as anybody is ever likely to get.

From the opening prequel battle scene, as hordes of CGI elves and orcs fight out an ancient battle, it’s clear Jackson’s film does not lack ambition. The scenery of Middle Earth is vividly brought to life, using a combination of spectacular New Zealand scenery with just a sprinkling of top-quality CGI. Similarly the more fanciful locations - such as the elven forests of Lorien or the dark chasms of Moria - as convincingly brought to life. The fantastic monsters that populate the darker reaches of Tolkien’s story are also convincingly portrayed - the Balrog is one of the more impressive pieces of CGI ever put on screen and the Nazgul are genuinely sinister. The effects aren’t always perfect - the cave troll looks a bit fake and occasional the visual tricks used to make the actors playing the diminutive hobbits look smaller than humans make some scenes look subtly wrong - but most of the effects are as good as anyone could expect.

Tolkien’s complicated plot is also well translated to screen, although occasionally some of the dialogue may feel a bit contrived to fit in all the necessary exposition. Even allowing for the movie’s unusually long running length it’s still impressive how much of the book’s plot has been retained. Even the omissions - such as the irritating Tom Bombadil and the gift-giving scene in Lorien - don’t detract from the film, and it’s quite possible for someone who has never read the book to easily follow the plot.

There are however a few problems with following the plot of the book. The most obvious is that the film ends on a bit of an anti-climax as we’re only a third of the way through the movie. There are also a few possible plot-holes with Tolkien’s story, such as Gandalf initially sending the hobbits off on their own with the most dangerous item in Middle-Earth while he goes to have a chat with Saruman.

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Inevitably in a story filled with elves, orcs and ancient evils some of the dialogue is quite unusual for a Hollywood movie, and if it was delivered by the wrong actor could sound unintentionally amusing. Fortunately Jackson has managed to assemble an impressive cast for his film. Elijah Wood handles the role of unlikely hero Frodo Baggins perfectly, and Sean Astin brings the character of his dependable fellow hobbit, Sam, to life. Viggo Mortenson and Orlando Bloom are well suited to the roles of Aragorn and Legolas and Christopher Lee is (as ever) an excellent villain. Sean Bean is particularly good as Boromir, who is a much more intriguing character in the film than he is in the film. The star of the show, however, is Ian McKellan as the wizard Gandalf who manages to convincingly portray the wise, powerful and mysterious character with a masterful piece of acting. There are a few problems with some of the characters, however. Cate Blanchett seems as wooden as the trees surrounding in her role as the Elven queen Galadriel, the character of Gimli is at times almost a caricature of that in Tolkien’s book and Pippin and Merry are given almost nothing to do.

Despite a few small flaws, Jackson’s adaptation is extremely entertaining, and at it’s best produces some of the best movie scenes in years. The Moria scene in particular is one of the tensest and most exciting action scenes seen in recent years and is doubtless going to go down in history as a classic cinema moment. Other good action scenes include the hobbits being chased by the sinister Nazgul and the impressively epic opening battle. The acting and plot may take most of the praise but there are many more things to praise about the film – including the impressively detailed sets, the beautiful scenery, some excellent cinematography and a memorable soundtrack. A stunning amount of work has gone into the film and it's all the more impressive considering director Jackson's relative inexperience with big budget film-making – previously he was best known for low budget horror films such as Bad Taste and Braindead.

At over three hours long and featuring a large cast and an epic story this is far more ambitious than almost any movie of the past decade and is one of the best films of recent years.

Rating : 9 / 10

DVD Review (Region 2)

The best feature about the Extended DVD Release is that it features Jackson's extended cut of the film - adding on about half an hour of footage. Admittedly the extra footage doesn't really add anything particularly notable to the film, but it is all well made and entertaining. The number of documentaries available is virtually unprecedented - two discs full of features telling the viewer everything they want to know (and more) about the making of the film, including plenty of fascinating material. There's also a couple of commentaries just in case there was anything not mentioned in the documentaries. An impressive DVD release that more than justifies its price-tag.

DVD Rating : 9 / 10

Click here to buy the DVD (the four disk extended edition) at Amazon.co.uk

All content ©2003 William Marnoch.

Comments? Agree/Disagree with the Reviews? Suggestions? Random Ramblings? Whatever you might want to say, feel free to e-mail me at william@wmarnoch.freeserve.co.uk .