Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Version): 3 1/2 out of 4 Stars

A movie review by:


Andrew Vigeant


One ring to rule them all. The first book of the series, after The Hobbit, written by J. R. R. Tolkien. For those who dislike this movie, or this entire series for that matter, you are crap and probably like movies by Kevin Smith. Sauron forged a ring to rule all species, but in a valiant effort by the resistance a man managed to defeat Sauron and take the ring. He can't bring himself to destroy it though, and eventually ends up losting it. The one special ring to rule them all has somehow found its way into the little hands of a hobbit. This leaves the hobbit with a mighty quest to destroy the ring, and a long ways to travel if he hopes to accomplish it. With the helps of a wizard, a dwarf, an elf, two men, and three other hobbits he sets out on his journey. He can not be prepared for what darkness he will meet on his quest, and all he can depend on is the fellowship of the ring. Will the hobbit complete his quest, or will the dark lord Sauron find it and use it for his will once again?

I was fortunate enough to be able to borrow this extended movie editon from my friend Stefan. He always talked about having me borrow it to watch it because he wanted to see if I liked the extended version better or not. Well, I have one thing to say to him and that is: Yes.

Elijah Wood(Frodo Baggins) gives us a show for a lifetime. Not once does his facial expressions falter, or his tone of voice go off cue. He delivers his lines perfectly like you would expect the real Frodo from the books to do. Oscar-winning performance hands down. Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee) delivers an outstanding performance second to Wood's. Astin is a really great actor, but it sadden my heart when he has to do roles in movies that a lesser actor could do. For example 50 First Dates he plays Doug Whitmore, and it's sad because Astin has so much talent, and nobody is putting that to use in their movies. Viggo Mortensen(Aragron) is amazing to say the least. Aragorn is my favorite character from the book and movie, but Mortensen is a major reason why. He has the rugged/I've been through so much look that a "ranger/king" like Aragorn should have. He never fails to impress you with the steady facial expressions of a man who is strong willed and hearted, but still has a saddened heart when others aroud him become emotional. Orlando Bloom(Legolas Greenleaf) does an awesome job like he does in EVERY movie he's in. Whether he is Legolas battling Orcs and trying to kill more than Gimli, or if he's battling pirates and creatures of the deep with Sparrow and Elizabeth he is always the right man to fit just about any role you want him too. John Rhys-Davies(Gimli) does a good job, but nothing really to brag about. His lack of screen time may be what's at fault here though because he does a good job otherwise when he is hacking away on orcs, and making funny quirks about elves. Ian McKellen(Gandalf) not only shows us he can be a nice guy other than the evil Magneto from X-men, but shows us that the more screen time he gets the better he performs. His fight with Saruman(Christopher Lee) falls on deaf ears though because it's short, and nowhere near as good as it was in the book. Sean Bean(Boromir) the only reason I'm even acknowledging his performance is because of the end of this movie. *Spoiler* when he is trying to save Pippin and Merry from the Orcs, he keeps fighting and forces the leader of the Orcs to shoot him with 3 arrows to finally put an end to his resistance. His dramatic display at the end of this movie actually does salvage the mediocre performance he puts on during the previous scenes. Peregrin Took/Pippin (Billy Boyd) and Meriadoc Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan) play the roles of Frodo's fellow hobbit friends othen than Samwise. I don't really like these two because they bumble and fumble around the screen the whole time, like the plot to a Bourne movie, while they attempt to look and act funny. Their acting is average at least though, and they dont ruin the movie at all so I guess they're alright.

Everyone who worked on this film, especially director Peter Jackson, earns a well-deserved dozen pat on the backs. The script, editing, camera angles, special effects, you name it are nearly flawless in every way you can imagine. As I've said in a past review acting can carry a movie to a certain point, but what makes it a movie is the things I mentioned just beforehand. All of these put together make a quality film that deserves to be in the all-time list of movies. Not once do you not believe you aren't actually in the Shire or battling Orcs along with Aragorn and the others. Nothing looks fake because it all looks original to you. The overall effectiveness of this movie is amazing. Throughout the entire movie you feel a very wide range of emotions, and you become: angry, sad, afraid, happy, laughable, shocked, amazed, etc. I'd do a standout scene paragraph, but watch the movie and then you'll see that every scene would be in that category.

Their are only two drawbacks in this film, and I honestly wish their wasn't any at all because I wanted to give this movie a perfect 4 out of 4. One is the fact that the movie drags somewhat. It isn't because of the running time, even though it is longer than a lot of movies, but it's because of the fact that some scenes are developed too far when their isn't need to do that. This causes the overall effect to be a little less than what it should be. Overall I definitely recommend this film all the way!