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- Cert:
(not suitable for Under 8s) - Running time: 178 minutes
- Year: 2001
- Released: 19th December 2001
- Widescreen Ratio: 2.35:1
- Rating: 9/10
Director: Peter Jackson (“Bad Taste”, “Braindead”, “Meet The Feebles”, “Heavenly Creatures”, “The Frighteners”)
Screenplay: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philipa Boyens (based on the book by J.R.R Tolkien)
Music: Howard Shore
Cast:
- Frodo Baggins: Elijah Wood
Gandalf: Ian McKellen
Sauron: Christopher Lee
Bilbo Baggins: Ian Holm
Galadriel: Cate Blanchett
Arwen: Liv Tyler
Aragorn / Strider: Viggo Mortensen
Boromir: Sean Bean
Gimli: John Rhys-Davies
Elrond: Hugo Weaving
Pippin Took: Billy Boyd
Merry Brandybuck: Dominic Monaghan
Samwise Gamgee: Sean Astin
Legolas: Orlando Bloom
J.R.R Tolkien‘s unfilmable trilogy has beenfilmed. Over the next three years each book of his epic fantasy trilogy“The Lord Of The Rings” will be released, starting with this, the first book, “The Fellowship Of The Ring”, followed by “The Two Towers”,then “The Return Of The King”.
So how has translating the literary behemoth to the silver screen fared? Thankfully,in the hands of auteur director Peter Jackson, the book has been treatedextremely well – but with enough improvements, flourishes and changes to makeit work better for a 21st Century cinema audience with no knowledge of Tolkien’smasterpiece.
The trilogy tells the story of how an innocent Hobbit named Frodo Bagginsbecomes entrusted with an evil ring – The One Ring – that was created 2,500years previously to enslave the population of Middle Earth by the Dark LordSauron. Fortunately, Sauron was narrowly defeated back then, but the ringsurvived and is now gradually reawakening its Master, so Frodo becomes the’ring bearer’ for the titular fellowship of ecletic individuals who musttravel across Middle Earth to destroy the ring at Mount Doom where it wascreated. Got that?
It’s fairly rudimentary stuff, and occassionally hard to imagine how a trio of3-hour films can keep the momentum going, but at least we get an imaginativeand awesome first part to whet our appetites for more. Events start at a relaxedpace, with keenly observed dark undertones and some great performances fromWood, McKellen and Holm. However, once the secret of the One Ring is revealed…things get really interesting.
For such a long movie the time really does fly past at an amazing rate. Thepacing is absolutely perfect in fact, and any clock-watching is just torejoice that there’s still more to go once you hit the 2 hour mark! Once thetrilogy is complete, watching a marathon run of all three films will be abum-numbing pleasure based on “Fellowship”.
New Zealand director Peter Jackson – himself a brave decision to preside oversuch an awesome task – has managed to breathe life into the fantasy genre inmuch the same way Ridley Scott made historical epics fashionable withGladiator.From the sprawling countryside of The Shire, to the splendour of mountain townRivendell, then deep under the dreaded Caves Of Moria… everything is givenso much authenticity thanks to the real-life delights of New Zealand’slocations.
Even better is the exceptional casting, utilising talented newcomers andestablished thespians in equal measure. Elijah Wood has never been betterthan playing the innocent Frodo, Ian McKellen is a note-perfect Gandalf,Christopher Lee proves he can still scare as evil sorceror Saruman, Ian Holmis a particular delight as Bilbo Baggins, Sean Bean gives a solidperformance as the tortured Boromir, newcomer Viggo Mortensen easily setshimself up as a talent to watch and the rest of the cast are just as good.
However, even given a 3 hour running time, many characters are cruellyunderdeveloped here – such as the dwarf Gimli, Merry and Pipping the hobbits,or Elf archer Legolas. As it stands now, these characters were merelyadditional hands for the fight sequences. But there are two more films to go,let’s not forget…
And that’s another “problem” with the film. Unlike many other trilogies (yes,evenStar Wars),“Lord Of The Rings” is a proper trio of films. Here you’re more acutelyaware you’re watching merely the first act of one BIG movie, and therefore thesense of closure for the film is unsatisfying – although it does leave youpanting for more! One senses you won’t fully appreciate any of the filmsentirely until the credits roll for “The Return Of The King” in 2003.That said, it means a lot of problems “Fellowship” does have can easilybe excused because of this three-film setup… which is a blessing. Since youknow you’re buying into a 9-hour experience spread over 3 years, so you canforgive any flaws the first film has.
The music and sound effects are also worthy of special mention. Howard Shore(“Se7en“)does an amazing job at evoking the epic nature of the film, together with thedramatic human edge that characterizes the piece. His score is both huge andbooming, then tranquil and sweet in equal turn. The film’s cohesion owes a lotto his work, and it truly elevates the action scenes. The sound effects aresimilarly a huge plus for the movie and add a great deal of weight and powerto the visuals – particularly the whinnying Black Rider horses…
Of course, for a $109m film the special effects are obviously fabulous. Thefilm actually has fewer standout effects-driven moments than you may beexpecting, but that’s because much of the delight in the film is with moretraditional effects fare – such as hideous makeups for the army of Orks, thenaturally amazing scenery of New Zealand, and extensive sets.
But when full-blown CGI kicks in, it never disappoints. Jackson’s WETA companybuild upon the fantastic work they did in”The Frighteners“ten-fold – giving George Lucas’ ILM a run for their money! In particular, anopening battle sequence (though very short) is a nerve-jangling experience ofvisual and audio prowess, as is an attack by the expertly-realised Cave Trolland the encounter with the Balrog demon. However, the film’s effects aren’t ahuge quantum leap in photorealism as many were touting in mid-2001, but theycertainly are impressive, and thankfully not overused as in”The Phantom Menace“to create a phoney atmosphere.
So what’s to hate? Well nothing, really. It takes a while for the actualjourney to start, there are a few lulls in the mid-section, a few moments whenthe persistent encounters with various creatures becomes slightly tiresome(did we really need the tentacled creature?), the Black Riders are somewhatoverused and there are a few other kinks that will probably be ironed out inthe next two installments – so are effectively nullified for now. But thisisn’t a film you can hate. It shows more maturity than its genre’s reputationsuggests, and whisks you away to Middle Earth for three hours. Enjoy it.
It will be 12 months until we see Middle Earth again… the journey’s onlyjust begun…
Review copyright © Dan Owen, 2001.E-mail Dan Owen
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.