Magical, spectacular, brilliant and imaginative, the Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring the first part of the action-fantasy trilogy, just may well be the best fantasy movie since the Wizard of Oz in 1939. The Wizard of Oz was gleaming, dazzling and radiant when released to audiences back then. If corny like today, it still remains pure classic, fantasy magic. 62 years later the Fellowship of the Ring is released in similar fashion.
The Fellowship of the Ring is directed by New Zealander Peter Jackson. It’s a huge leap for him, having previously done only low-budget horror movies. Having read the book, which is 1,000+ pages, when he was a kid, Jackson had a vision. Getting a team of filmmakers together, Jackson and his team wrote a script for two movies. But when their production company, Miramax, eventually cancelled the production, Jackson moved over to New Line Cinema, who insisted that the story be released as a trilogy, as was written by the books. A very good call on their part.
All three adaptations were filmed back-to-back from 1999-2000. Jackson directed it all the way through, filming it all in his native New Zealand. He has it all well cast to.
The main character is Frodo, a little Hobbit, who is destined to destroy the legendary one Ring forged by the Dark Lord Sauron before he can reclaim it and use it as an unstoppable force to rule Middle-Earth. Sauron sends his demonic servants, the Nazgul, to hunt him down and get the Ring back to Mordor. Frodo is joined on his quest by his Hobbit friends Sam, Merry and Pippin, the warrior-drifter Aragorn, the soldier Boromir, the Wizard Gandalf, the elf Legolas and the dwarf Gimli, who band together to form the Fellowship.
Each character has his own little subplot. While Frodo’s journey makes up the main plot, the subplots are surprisingly more interesting. Aragorn is actually heir to the throne of Gondor, a country of men, but chooses instead to drift out in the wilds because his descendant failed, and he feels he may too. He is helped on by Legolas and Gimli, both of whom constantly quarrel and argue with each other. Gandalf has been betrayed by his mentor, the wizard Saruman. However, Gandalf is more concerned with guiding Frodo and saving Middle-Earth rather than claiming to be the head of the order of the Wizards. Boromir is the son of the Steward of Gondor, and fears for his people’s safety.
Jackson casts his character very well. Elijah Wood is cast as the lead Frodo. Wood is convincing and believable as the young Hobbit, who starts off as a good ole’ peaceful young Hobbit, who is sucked into this adventure that changes his life forever. Viggo Mortensen, in his biggest role yet, is Aragorn, the ‘main co-star’. Mortensen, before filming properly began, would dress up as Aragorn and hike out into the woods to achieve the rugged look of his character. All of the other actors are all very well cast as well. British actor Ian McKellen, known also for playing the lead villain in the X-Men series later, makes a credible, authentic good wizard who is the main backbone of the good guys.
If there is one thing Jackson has done wrong with the Fellowship of the Ring, and I know that people have agreed with me on this, it’s that he can’t include everything Tolkien wrote in his novel, and yet the movie still reaches around three hours in length (even longer in the special extended version, which I think is an improved version of the original theatrical version). The filmmakers have not achieved the impossible; in fact it will be impossible to ever portray on film everything that Tolkien has envisioned.
Nevertheless, the Fellowship of the Ring is pure magic, action-filled with deep moral value. Jackson has done the best he can to bring Tolkien’s epic adventure to the big screen, and he has succeeded. The Fellowship of the Ring is the story of unlikely heroes who banded together to defeat the common enemy.
*****/5
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