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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 (19 - 21 of 102 Reviews)

A Story Well Told
This film was great not because of its spectacle, but because of a return to storytelling in the movies. It is a wonderful film about friendship, honor, loyalty and sacrifice, set against director Peter Jackson's visually stunning recreation of Tolken's world of Middle Earth. The beautiful New Zealand landscape is used by Jackson to make us feel as if we really are in Middle Earth. Elves, hobbits, dwarfs and men are all brought together in a fellowship to help young hobbit Frodo (Elijah Wood) take the "one ring" to Mordor where it was forged and destroy it.

The stakes are high as ring wraiths called the "Dark Riders" hear the call of the ring and pursue Frodo and his young friend Sam (Sean Astin) from the very beginning of their journey. They are sent forward by Gandalf (Ian McKellon), who guards them from the power of the ring and it's temptations. Along the way they will be joined by Boromir (Sean Bean), Sauron (Sala Baker), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and Pippin (Billy Boyd). The fate of all Middle Earth depends on their success.

The story was simple, and in many respects this is a "B" movie, but one with a big budget and such a sense of itself that it is entertainment on a grand yet elemental scale. There are wonderful performances from Elijah Wood and Sean Astin in this beautifully filmed and heartening tale well told. A scene early on in the film gives a real sense of what it's really about, as Sam, who has promised Gandalf he'll look after Frodo, turns back for a long look at the Shire, and says to Frodo: "If I take one more step it will be the furthest I have ever been from home." It is a wistful moment of sacrificing yourself for something greater, and sets the mood for the entire film.

Viggo Mortensen gives the grittiest performance as the ranger, Stryder, who comes to protect Frodo and Sam from the evil Dark Riders, who once were men, but are something quite different now. The battle sequences have an excitement and sense of urgency that stops our heart while watching them. Along this journey, fraught with peril, Stryder is revealed to be Aragorn, the rightful King of men. He is a man reluctant to lead his people because his family has a long history with the ring. He worries that the weakness for the ring which has presented itself in the past, and caused his family shame, may be found in him as well. Frodo's father Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) will also struggle with his weakness for the ring's power.

Liv Tyler gives a fine performance as Arwenevenstar, an elf Princess who saves Frodo from certain death and makes an even greater sacrifice for the love of Aragorn. Cate Blanchett also has a nice turn as Galadriel, Queen of the Elven world. Everything in this film is perfect. Peter Jackson balances the visual beauty of the film and its grand special effects with a story that is itself basic and elemental, showing the best in who we are.

This is a film that inspires loyalty in all who have seen it. It is an epic that has everything and actually has something to say. It is how we choose to live that is important. At 178 minutes we are sorry to see the closing credits, even if we are treated to the beautiful Enya theme "May It Be." This is a truly great film that deserves the loyalty it inspires and is something really special.

Beautiful and enchanting worlds are created here by director Jackson and his crew. It is to Jackson's credit that while visually opulent, the main focus remains on the story itself. In many respects, "The Lord of the Rings" is the best film of the trilogy. There is something touching here. This isn't a larger than life film, but a film about the small things in life. Basic themes such as honor and friendship, loyalty and sacrifice, remain first and foremost. It is a film with a moral center, its appeal undeniable and universal. A great film to own.

Extremely well done
The Lord of the Rings is my favorite story. I have the books of course, and a lot of figures, and even an audio version that I never listen to.

When I saw the prior LOTR movie, the animated one, I was extremely disappointed. It didn't do the movie justice.

It's hard to satisfy an audience that adores the book. Any deviation from the book is a negative. And there are a few deviations from the book. It can't possibly live up to the impact the book had on you.

But this movie comes reasonably close to putting the book on film. I would have made a few changes, but Peter Jackson somehow never asked me to give my opinion.

One change I would have made. Remember the scene where the four hobbits in the Shire are hiding from a Black Rider whose horse is sniffing around right near them? I would have made that scene a lot scarier. I would have made you feel the tension and fear a lot more. That is supposed to really set up, for the viewer, what is at stake here, and they failed to do that. The hobbits nonchalanted it too much. They also could have helped by using music or sound of some kind to scare the bejesus out of you. That scene required that kind of treatment.

I also would have differentiated Merry and Pippin more from each other. While it is true that we got the point that Pippin was the meatball of the two, Merry's maturity didn't show at all, and they physically resembled each other far, far too much. Merry was supposed to be the toughest of the four hobbits despite his merry name, and he should have been given a personality of his own rather than just playing the role of the utterly unimportant of the four hobbits.

I loved what they did with Sam's hobbit girlfriend in the Shire. She was so adorable, strong and free, exactly what the movie needed. She gives us a reason to love the hobbits. The movie actually did a lot better than the book, than Tolkein himself did, at fleshing out the character of Rosie, Sam's girl.

It is a shame that time constraints apparently forced Peter Jackson to leave Tom Bombadil out of the movie altogether. Bombadil and Goldberry are wonderful Tolkein characters, and this story isn't complete without them.

In the book, didn't the chase scene between the Black Riders and Frodo play out differently? I don't think that in the book Arwen saves Frodo's hash when she races towards Rivendell with an unconscious Frodo draped over her horse. Doesn't Frodo stand up to the Black Riders himself rather than being carried like a sack of potatoes?

I suppose Peter Jackson made a decision to give Arwen and Liv Tyler a more heroic role, having her save Frodo. It emasculates Frodo though, because it doesn't allow us to see him take charge of a battle scene and stand up to the Black Riders himself, which as I mentioned before should have been set up better by making those villains more terrifying.

How many chances did Frodo have to do a battle scene with fearsome enemies? He's usually just bearing the ring and keeping Sam and Gollum from killing each other. I think his most macho-hero scene was taken from him and given to Arwen. The problem is, I have seen the movie a few times, it's been years since I read the book, and I'm not 100% sure that Arwen didn't save Frodo. Did she or didn't she?

I would have cast (or directed) Elrond differently. In the book he was an elf lord of immense power and interest, but in the movie he really didn't come across nearly as powerfully. He seemed a bit like a minor general and a has-been, and Tolkein didn't paint him that way. I prefer him more powerful.

We also don't really see the transition for Gimli, in the movie, from despising elves to loving Galadriel. I don't think it would have been that hard to make us see his transformation better. The version of Galadriel that I saw in my mind's eye, from the book, was gentler, softer, prettier, less dangerous looking, than the one on screen, and a lot more likely to provoke adoration in a man's heart.

The battle scenes, particularly in the mines against the hordes of orcs, come off a bit phony because they make you wonder how so many orcs can be killed while not one casualty is suffered by the fellowship at the hands of the orcs. Of course we are constrained by Tolkein's writing, and after all the orcs failed to seriously wound any of the fellowship, but if I had directed this movie I would have done something about that, to bring a little more realism to the scene, make it less of a "good guys always win and never get hurt" conclusion to the orc battle.

I didn't picture Saruman as Christopher Lee. I pictured him as a shorter and shiftier man, a sweet talking salesman type with shifty eyes. In the movie he resembled Gandalf too much. One Gandalf is enough. I pictured him as a short, overweight, shifty and treacherous man capable of being cowardly towards Sauron, bullying towards weaker foes, and shifty in his dealings with Gandalf, seeming to be a degraded wizard who still has a lot of tricks up his sleeve.

Peter overplayed the physical power of the elves, making them just as large as men, when it was important to make them no more than about 5 feet tall and very thin. The orcs too should have been elf size. Gimli should clearly have been a hell of a lot more powerful than Legolas, but the way the movie was done, Legolas was the big strong one and Gimli was of slight importance. This is a fantasy, and they should have gone to the trouble of shrinking the elves and orcs, making Saruman's orcs almost man-sized.

All things considered, this movie does do justice to the book. It's a wonderful movie. Thanks, Peter, for a job extremely well done.

The lord if the rings the fellowship of the rings
Received my package within days of ordering.. I would buy from this person again...

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