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The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition Collector's Gift Set) Customer Reviews (4 - 6 of 102 Reviews)

The creature animation.

The animated creatures special effects work is very well done in CGI. Still,
I lament that all is made with computor images, and not through stop motion
technique using real models. A computor image can be very realistically
made, but still lacks a certain something, a sense of real
manifested mass and presence. One of the last great stop motion creatures
used on screen was the dragon in the movie Dragonslayer; is was very
advanced and had a computorized mechanism called Go Motion to give it
carefully adjusted movements. Here the computor had, as it should, a
supporting role, instead of totally taking over. It is a pity that this
branch of effects work was abandoned for the less costly CGI. Because the
use of a model gives by itself a sense of presence on the screen, that can't
fully be achieved with the illusion of the computor image. A real model
brings an actuality of sharpness to movements, forms, colors, lights and
shadows. The continuation of the Go Motion technique would have been an
investment for the future, and led to many interesting discoveries
in anatomical and engineering mechanics, developed the knowledge of hard
and elastic complex materials, and would have been a major factor in the
advancement of robotics. Instead the film industry exclusively chose, for
financial reasons, the less costly road of doing make-believe illusions
within the computor.


Excellent film , makes me want to see the other two!
This film had a bucnh of hype surrounding it so I tried to temper my expectations when seeing it for the first time. I watched the extended version and did NOT see the theatrical shorter version so this review is based on that. Anyways...

This epic tale moves along very well for such a long movie. I never got bored or tired and thought that the pacing was damned good. The character development was done quite well, I started to actually care about each of the individuals that were part of the fellowship in one way or another. There was enough action and battle scenes without it getting tiresome and the surprises kept coming as things happened that I was not expecting.

This is a DEEP, long story that does require our full attention span but I had no problem becuase it was interesting and because I liked the characters, I couldn't wait to see what went on next. Like any epic, this had all of the elements you would expect: Trust, good vs evil, revelations, building friendships, faith, etc, etc. I found myself constanstly thinking about what each character was going to do and what their "take" was on all of this. Which characters, if any, would ultimately "turn" against Frodo? Were any of them secretly aligned with the Evil Lord Sauron? Very good stuff, very cool to ponder.

Also, the beggining of the film really sets up the story nicely describing the rings, how they came about, what they mean to potential holders of them, and why anyone may want the ring(s) in the first place. Right of the bat I was sort of "hooked" wanted to get going with the film. This was a nice way to kick things off!

The special effects are tremendous and so is the cinematography. There were a FEW, and I mean a very few CGI shots that didnt look that great but most of this mystical world was captured perfectly by the films creators. WELL DONE!

Like any movie, it's not perfect so let's get a few quick things out of the way that could have been better or changed:

- Frodo was a little too timid for my tastes. He just didn't show enough emotion and at times seemed almost bored. Maybe it was too much for him but his facial expressions rarely changed and I would have liked to seen him a little more "fired up".

- There were a few scenes were other people or characters were mentioned that didnt make any sense or I was unable to tie them to the film in any way. Also, a few of the characters had really quick parts or their contribution was very limited so I didnt see why they were there in the first place. Perhaps these things I mention will have signifigance in other films in the series?

That's really about it, it is very nitpicky and does not detract from the film at all.

The quality of the video and audio of this DVD are TOP notch, expecially for my widescreen flat panel LCD set. The complaints about the discs not playing on peoples computers are probably based on downloaded, pirated copies so I wouldn't worry about it as long as your legit!

I Highly recommend this film, you'll enjoy it. The "short attention span" crowd may think it's dull but that's their problem.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

The Beginning of an Amazing Trilogy!
A long absent evil returns to loom over the Free Lands of Middle Earth, and it needs only the One Ring to become an unstoppable force of destruction. Luckily, the One Ring of Power, lost for over three thousand years, has come into the hands of a humble, young hobbit named Frodo Baggins. With the benign wizard Gandalf the Grey to instruct him, Frodo and his best friend, Samwise Gamgee, travel with two other hobbit companions to the woodland realm of the elves, led by a mysterious ranger called Strider. Once there, the band of heroes is joined by Legolas the Elf, a nobleman named Isildur, and Gimli the dwarf, forming the Fellowship of the Ring. It is the quest of the Fellowship to take the evil Ring to the fires of Mount Doom, in the land of Mordor, to destroy it. It is a perilous journey, however. Along the way, they must face monstrous creatures such as Orcs, Ringwraiths, Cave Trolls, Goblins, and all manner of other horrors. But, they will also discover the distant majesties of their world, the fascinating cultures, beautiful beings, and awe inspiring landscapes. They must always remain on guard though, because there are less obvious dangers lurking as well. The Dark Lord Sauron's demonic eye is ever watchful, his spies seek out the hobbits in search of the One Ring, and the ring itself is the greatest danger of all. Its wicked power seeks to envelop all who are near and lead them to certain doom.

Based on the renowned books by author J. R. R. Tolkien, "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" is only the first in a three-part fantasy epic that is mindblowing to say the least! Director Peter Jackson, surprisingly coming from a no-budget splatter film background, brings the world of Middle Earth to fantastic and astonishing reality! Intense detail in every aspect of the filmmaking process has resulted in a trilogy like no other. It is pointless to single out performances here, for every cast member is perfection. The visual effects are flawless, the music is inspiring, and the settings are incomparable. The great attention to detail results in a medieval world that, fantastic as it is, seems 100% real. The languages are real, the various cultures are in depth, and at the heart of it all is the message that no creature is so small that it is insignificant or incapable of making a difference. This is filmmaking at its finest. Can any one film of the trilogy stand alone as a viewing experience? Yes and no. The films are each fantastic and plenty lengthy, though there is never a dull moment, but they are unquestionably all one single story. They must ALL be seen consecutively and in order (though you don't have to watch them all in one day). This Widescreen, 2-disc edition of the DVD presents the film as it was released in theaters, with a beautiful widescreen format and a fine collection of extras that include: 3 featurettes on the making of the film, 15 short web-featurettes, theatrical trailers and TV spots, a music video by Enya, a preview of the second film in the trilogy (Two Towers) and its video game, and, believe it or not, a preview of the extended edition of the DVD. That's right, some time after the release of this theatrical edition, extended editions of the already lengthy films were released on DVD. Those must be REALLY long, and they probably have some great extras too; maybe the audio commentaries or production art we don't get here. Regardless, even Peter Jackson refers to the theatrical releases as the "preferred versions." So, make your choice. You might even feel like owning both versions. Any way you go, you can't lose. Fantastic films!

In the past, there have been animated versions of the Lord of the Rings and the preceding tale by J. R. R. Tolkien, "The Hobbit." You may want to discover these for yourself. I can't wholeheartedly recommend them, as I haven't seen them since childhood, and I recall the animation being a bit weak to say the least. Still, it's been a long time, but don't expect them to come anywhere near these versions. Also recommended for "Lord of the Rings" fans: The Black Cauldron, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Legend, The Last Unicorn, The Princess Bride, The Sword in the Stone, Excalibur, Dragonslayer, Merlin, the Harry Potter series, the Star Wars saga (still my favorite film series, but I'm a longtime fan), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Willow, Clash of the Titans, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and I'm SURE I'm forgetting many more. Also, check out a much younger Elijah Wood in "The Adventures of Huck Finn," another of my all-time favorite films, and pick up Peter Jackson's "King Kong," another extraordinary achievement! Oh, and visit my gallery at slave2moonlight.deviantart.com to read my Disney/Lord of the Rings fan-comic! It's only 7 pages in as I write this review, but it's somewhat entertaining if I do say so myself, ha.

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