Plot Details: This opinion reveals everything about the movie's plot.

“A Magnificent Gem of a Film, With Only Minor Flaws”.

I, like millions of others, am an avid fan of J. R. R. Tolkien’s writings, especially “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. I have read each cover to cover respectfully, and many, many times since my youth. And, like millions of others, I have many fond memories of being swept into a world of Tolkien’s genius, that of Middle Earth, and the adventures, struggles, and moral dilemmas that go hand in glove with quests and hero adventures. I even have a copy of the 1978 animated “Lord of the Rings” in my video collection. So, it was with great anticipation that I counted off the days until December 19, 2001, for the release of the first film of the trilogy, “The Fellowship of the Ring”. The 1978 film was disappointing, in that it had numerous errors in it concerning events in the book, blatant omissions, and was incomplete. The 2001 version that I so anticipated with eagerness and glee, did not disappoint me. Most of the events in the first book are covered accurately, although there are many occasions where things happen slightly differently, there are some omissions of events, and other things that a nitpicking Tolkien addict can point out, but they are vastly overshadowed by the sheer might and majesty of this movie. What follows is a table of information on the cast and production of the film, followed by synopsis and a review of this great, new film, which is a feast for the eyes, ears, and senses. This synopsis will be lengthy, and I caution you not to read it if you don’t want this review to be a “spoiler”.

Information about “The Lord of the Rings: Part One: The Fellowship of the Ring”.

Producer: Peter Jackson
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast List:
Gandalf—Ian Mckellan Aragorn—Viggo Morgensten
Bilbo Baggins—Ian Holm Boromir—Sean Bean
Frodo Baggins---Elijah Wood Legolas—Orlando Bloom
Peregrin Took—Billy Boyd Arwen—Liv Tyler
Meriadoc Brandybuck—Dominic Monaghan Galadriel—Cate Blanchett
Samwise Gamgee—Sean Astin Saruman—Christopher Lee
Gimli the Dwarf—John Rhys-Davies Elrond—Hugo Weaving
Running Time: 3 hours, 18 minutes
Rated: PG-13





Synopsis.

The movie begins with a history of Middle Earth, which is inhabited by men, elves, dwarves, orcs, hobbits, goblins, trolls, wizards, ents, and some nameless evils, was once dominated by Sauron the Great. Rings of power were made, nine for mortal men, seven for the dwarf lords, three for the tall elf kings, and one ring that was made to rule them all, forged by Sauron. With this ring, Middle Earth is his, and he cannot be defeated, and would enslave every race and subject them to his will. A great war for control of Middle Earth happened, and Isuldur, son of Elendil, of the tall human kings from Numenor, cut the ring from Sauron’s hand, and claimed it as his own. (As he did this, his sword broke). Since he did this, the spirit of the “Dark Lord”(Sauron), didn’t die, and lingered on. However, the ring, which can make the wearer invisible, has a way of trying to get back to its master, and can betray the person who wears it, while simultaneously corrupting him with the illusion of ultimate power (ultimate power corrupts totally). Prince Isuldur was ambushed by a band of orcs on the road, and jumped into the River Anduin, the ring slipped off his finger, betraying its owner, making him visible, and he got shot to death with a hail of arrows. The ring sank to the bottom of the river, and it lay there for thousands of years. Two friends were fishing one day, and one recovered the ring, and his friend managed to kill him for it, claiming it for himself. This creature was Gollum, who took the ring and used it for some 500 years in the depths of the mine of Moria. And, it was Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, who found it in these depths, and managed to steal it from Gollum, and brought it back to the Shire. Bilbo kept the ring secret, but used it from time to time to hide from his prying relatives. Gandalf, the wizard, had always kept a close eye on the hobbits, and Bilbo, and his ring, was of particular interest to him.

On Bilbo’s eleventy first birthday, aged 111, he and Frodo, his nephew and heir, who turned 33 on the same day (which is a coming of age for a hobbit), threw a magnificent birthday party. Hobbits give away presents on their birthdays, and this was no exception. The Shire was in a tizzy, and Gandalf arrived with a wagonload of fireworks for the party. After a huge dinner, and plenty of beer, Gandalf amazed the party with a magnificent display of fireworks. Following this, Bilbo made a speech in which he announces that he is “going away, now”, and he puts the ring on, and vanishes! Returning to his hobbit hole and finding Gandalf there, Bilbo agrees, reluctantly, to leave the ring to Frodo, along with everything else, as he is going on a permanent holiday. An inner conflict results in Bilbo, who has had the ring for some sixty years, and he finally relents, and leaves the ring for Frodo. Gandalf cannot seemingly touch this ring, as he senses that it has some degree of power in it. Frodo comes back from the party, and finds out he is the master of this house, and of the ring. Gandalf goes away to find out what he can about this ring, and delves into the lore of old, finding out quite a lot, including the information that Gollum was captured and tortured by the Dark Lord himself, and revealed the name “Baggins” of the “Shire”, and sent out the 9 men whose rings he now held, the Ringwraiths, or “Black Riders”, (or “Nazgul”), to retrieve the ring of his, and bring it back to him.

Frodo’s companions and close friends are Samwise Gamgee, and Meriadoc Brandybuck, or “Merry”, and Peregrin Took, or “Pippin”. Gandalf comes back to the Shire to warn Frodo to leave at once. He has one test to perform on the ring, and he throws it into the fireplace, and pulls it out with tongs. He gives it back to Frodo, and it isn’t even warm, but the sides of the ring glow with Elvish letters which say: “One Ring to Rule them All, One Ring to Find them, One Ring to Bring them all, and in the Darkness, Bind them!” Frodo and Sam do leave at once, meeting up by chance with Merry and Pippin just outside the Shire. Gandalf goes to consult with Saruman the White, who is well versed in ring lore, about what is to be done. Frodo is to meet up with Gandalf in the city of Bree, and at the Inn called the Prancing Pony. In the mean time, the Black Riders are now in the Shire, wreaking havoc and searching for Baggins and the ring. On the way to Bree, the hobbits have an encounter with one such rider, and he almost catches them, but they escape narrowly on a small ferryboat. They make it to Bree that evening, and get to the Inn, but Gandalf is nowhere to be seen. There is quite a lot of revelry going on in the tavern, and Pippin suddenly points out that Frodo Baggins is with him, right in this room (his traveling name was supposed to be Mr. Underhill). At this moment, Frodo runs over to stop his foolish friend from blabbing, slips, and falls. The ring flies out of his hand up into the air, and comes down right on his finger! This makes him invisible, and there is much immediate commotion, and he is whisked into an adjoining room by a tall, dark stranger, who tells him that he has been too careless and foolish already, and that he knows about the “burden” that he carries. This turns out to be Strider, who is a ranger “out of the wild”. Frodo was warned about him by the innkeeper, Butterbur. But, it turns out, that he is a friend and is here to protect Frodo and his friends from the Black Riders, who show up later that evening. In a scene that is very chilling, the Ringwraiths come into the room where the party is supposedly sleeping, and cut the beds and everything in them, to shreds. It turns out the room is a decoy, and the bundles under the covers were only rags, and not hobbits.

In the meantime, Gandalf goes to see Saruman the White, the head wizard of his order, to consult with him, at Isengard. Saruman tells Gandalf that there is nothing to do but to join with Sauron of Mordor. When Gandalf tries to leave, Saruman prevents him from doing so, and battles and subdues Gandalf, taking his staff, and imprisoning him at the top of Orthanc, the high tower of Isengard.

So, the party of five now move out into the wild country, off the road, to shake the Black Riders. However, they are followed by them relentlessly. At a place called Weathertop, or Amon Sul, Strider leaves them for a while to sleep. Frodo awakes to see, to his horror, that his companions have a fire going, and they are toasting tomatoes. Of course, this alerts the Black Riders to their prescience, and they come for them. After a brief battle, Frodo puts on the ring, and enters the world of the Dark Lord, and sees these Black Riders for what they are, terrible grim men, who have been enslaved and are neither dead nor alive. He resists, and is stabbed by the chief Black Rider, in the shoulder. At this time, Strider comes back, and battles them off, saving the day. However, the blade that stabbed Frodo was an evil blade, and a piece broke off and was working its way inward, slowly turning Frodo into a ringwraith too. The only answer was to bring Frodo to Rivendell, the home of Elrond, who is high among the Elves. The Black Riders hound their every move, but Elrond’s daughter, the beautiful Arwen, arrives and agrees to spirit Frodo away. In a smashing sequence, she takes Frodo onto her white horse, and whisks him away, narrowly, to safety. When she crossed the river, the Black Riders begin to follow, but she calls up the river to rise against them, and with frothy white horses galloping in the front, drowns and destroys the Black Riders, just in time.

Frodo awakes to find Gandalf sitting next to him. Gandalf managed a magnificent escape with the help of a great eagle from Saruman’s grasp, and Frodo was healed by the power and wisdom of Elrond. It turns out that Bilbo is here too, and has finished his book about his adventure, and meets up with Frodo. He asks to see the ring again, and the corruption and hold that the ring has on him is still evident, as there is a brief, horrific change in Bilbo’s face when he sees it, one of greed, avarice, and thievery. He asks forgiveness from Frodo. The council of Elrond begins next, with men and elves and dwarves summoned to it to see what to do with the one ring. They decide it should be destroyed, and Gimli, the dwarf, tries to hammer it, failing miserably. Boromir, a man from Gondor, thinks we should use the ring against the enemy, but Gandalf, Legolas, and Strider, whose real name is Aragorn, and is heir to the throne of Gondor, tell him it is foolishness to try to use the ring, because you would become corrupted, and become like Sauron. Elrond and Gandalf tell that it must be sent to Mordor, Sauron’s land, and be cast into the fires of Mount Doom, where it was forged. After much bickering, Frodo speaks up, and volunteers his services to do this great deed. One by one, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn, Boromir, and his three hobbit friends, volunteer and support him, and it is decided that these nine will be “the fellowship of the ring”, nine to stand against the nine Black Riders.

So, they set out to cross the Misty Mountains, first they try to go south, but it is too close to Saruman’s realm. Then they try the mountains, but the snowstorms are too great. So, they try to go under the mountains, through the mines of Moria. At the entrance to them, there is a lake, and a door written in Elvish runes that says “Speak friend and enter”. Frodo and Gandalf realize it is a riddle, and get the door to open by saying the Elvish word for “friend”, but at this moment, a great tentacled creature grabs Frodo, and pulls him into the lake. The others manage to barely save him, and run inside the caves, just at the creature caves the entrance in. Now, they are shut in, and have no choice but to cross the treacherous mines under the mountain. Gimli’s cousin Balin had led a company of dwarves here and had a small kingdom, but there are signs everywhere of battles, with bodies of orcs and dwarves strewn about. Finally, they come to a tomb, the tomb of Balin, and a book that chronicled the colony. The last passages were “they are coming, we cannot get out, drums….drums in the deep”. At this moment, Pippin accidentally knocks into a well a skull and suit of armor, and it crashes and clanks its way down into the depths. All is still for a moment, and there is an answer to this, drums and tapping. Almost immediately, the orcs start to come at them, and Boromir notices that they have a “great cave troll” with them.

In a series of stupendous battle scenes, the orcs swarm in and are engaged by the fellowship, all fighting like mad. Legolas the elf has a bow and arrow that kill many orcs, Gandalf and the men use swords, the hobbits their short swords, and Gimli, his axe.
Then the troll appears, a huge blob of a creature, and one that is hard to kill. It goes after Frodo with its hammer and chain whip. Finally, it skewers him on its spear, and it looks like he is dead. They manage to kill the cave troll, and find out that Frodo is alive! He had on a shirt of mithril silver that protected him. Now the fellowship is running to try to cross the bridge of Kazad-dum. They are followed by swarms and swarms of orcs, who pin them in on all sides. The orcs suddenly flee, as some flame-like nameless fear is coming from behind. Gandalf realizes it is a Balrog, and ancient evil creature that none can withstand. They run to the bridge, manage to cross it, and Gandalf takes up a position on the bridge, and tells the Balrog “You cannot pass!” “I am a keeper of the secret fire, go back to the shadow!” The Balrog engages him in a sword sortie, and Gandalf manages to break the bridge on which the Balrog stands, but, at the last minute, its fire-whip catches hold of Gandalf’s legs, and pulls him down into the abyss, as he cries, “fly, you fools!”

Aragorn leads the shocked company away to Lothlorien, the home of Galadriel and Celeborn. Here, they can rest and be safe, for the time being, as they collect their strength for the final push to Mordor. Galadriel herself is a fascinating elf queen, who has great insight and almost telepathic abilities. She possesses the “mirror of Galadriel”, and Frodo has a peek at it, and sees the Shire, and all the hobbits, enslaved and being tortured. This is what would happen if he fails on his quest. It is at this moment that he offers the one ring to Galadriel, who, after a moment of terrible revelation that she would become as terrible as Sauron, politely declines the offer.

In the meantime, Saruman is breeding a whole new breed of orcs, the Uruk Hai, to make an army for himself, and sends them after the company to retrieve the ring, and capture the hobbits.

Now, the fellowship sets off in boats down the Anduin River, pass the Pillars of the Kings, statues of Aragorn’s ancestors, and pull up on shore to make camp. It is here that Frodo strays up a mountain path, and Boromir tries to take the ring from him. He puts on the ring, and disappears, and the dark lord’s eye sees him, and he takes it off. The Uruk Hai orcs have caught up with them now, and Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas have a hard time fighting them off. Merry and Pippin create a diversion, and run right into a group of orcs, but Boromir comes to their rescue. In a wonderful fight, he kills off a dozen or more orcs, but is at last shot three or four times with arrows from the head orc, and then Merry and Pippin are captured and taken away by them. Aragorn finds Boromir, and he and Legolas and Gimli put Boromir on a boat and send him down the river, and go after the orcs to save Merry and Pippin. Sam and Frodo cross the river, and push on to continue the quest, going to Mordor. The movie ends.

Review.

What I Like.

“The Lord of the Rings” is one of the most exciting fantasy/action movies you will ever see. Peter Jackson has very simply done a magnificent job in bringing Middle Earth to life in this film. I like the physical settings and place reconstructions, I like the actors and the characters they play, and character development, and how they are portrayed, I like the cinematography, the music, and just about everything else.

The physical setting is New Zealand. The Shire is just like I had imagined it. The mountains in the movie are the Southern Alps of New Zealand, and they are breathtaking. The whole physical setting, and the choice of New Zealand, are simply wonderful.

The characters, especially Gandalf, Frodo, and Bilbo, are so much like one would envision them that it is almost uncanny. The character development is very good, especially that of Gandalf and Frodo. Ian Mckellan‘s portrayal of Gandalf is simply outstanding. He brings him to life in a way that is outstanding. Ian Holm plays a great Bilbo Baggins, and does a marvelous job of it, giving us insight into this fascinating hobbit. Elijah Wood plays Frodo, and he does a brilliant job as well. Liv Tyler, the beautiful daughter of the Aeorsmith guy, does a fine job too. Gimli is so well portrayed by John Rhys-Davies that I can’t see him in any other way. He has some great one-liners too “never toss a dwarf”, and “not the beard!” for another.

As a movie, it works on all levels. The plot is easy to follow, logical in its presentation, and is very riveting. The action scenes are amazing, the battle scenes are astounding. The drama, and anticipation are simply incredible. Even if you know what is going to happen, when it happens, and how and why it happens, you are amazed, stunned, and surprised, and deeply moved. When Gandalf is whisked into the abyss to his seeming death, you are just totally shocked to the point of tears. When Boromir is killed, you feel for him, and are moved to tears, even though he had just tried to take the ring for his own designs. The Ringwraiths are terrifying and devastating. The orcs are hideous and wonderful. The cave troll is pretty darned impressive, as is the Balrog, and of course, Sauron himself. Gollum’s brief appearance is great too. Arwen and Galadriel are lovely and intriguing. Gandalf is the wizard embodied, good, wise, and magical. The hobbits are pretty darned good too, especially Frodo and Bilbo. Gimli the dwarf is fantastic! Aragorn and Boromir are so alike at times that you almost can’t tell them apart. The elves are pretty good as well. On the level of a movie, this film completely works. The three hours and 18 minutes go by without a dull moment, and keep you on the edge of your seat. There are moments of humor, sorrow, excitement, and insight and reflection. You care about the plot, the characters, and about the quest to destroy the ring. You care about the fate of elves, men, and hobbits. You care deeply about the fate of Middle Earth. This movie is like potato chips, their arrival brings pleasure, but leave you wanting even more. This movie could have been 6 hours long and people would have swarmed in to see it.

The special effects, costumes, makeup, and recreations of places are all top notch. The Balrog, the orcs, the cave troll, the battle scenes, the recreations of places like Moria and Mordor, are all outstanding.

Other things I like are the fact that the beginning has a great outline and background for the plot development. This leaves no doubt in the mind of the viewer as to what is going on. It is an essential summary of the events leading up to the events in the film. They even show the maps that Tolkien himself had penned for the books.

The musical score for this film is excellent as well. It is at once beautiful, and not overdone. The music scores extra points in that it is used at the right moments, and exactly the right moments, when needed to make something very poignant.

Peter Jackson must have been one of those very dedicated Tolkien fans, that much is certain. One can finally say that the film makers finally got it “right”, but, of course, there are flaws.

What I Don’t Like.

Mind you, all I am doing here is nitpicking, and I debated whether or not to even include this section in this review. These are very minor flaws, omissions, mistakes, or errors, and here are just a few of them.

The flaws in the film are mainly in certain factual aspects of the plot, particular events, omissions, and the juxtaposition of characters filling roles that others did in the book. Of course, the flaws are only noticeable to those who have read the books.

For instance, there are minor flaws, like Bilbo dropping his ring on the floor, and not leaving it in an envelope for Frodo on the mantle. The revelation of Gandalf as to the whereabouts of the ring exactly (which he didn’t do in the book). The battle between Gandalf and Saruman doesn’t happen in the book either, although it may be implied.

Omissions include Tom Bombadil in the Old Forest, him saving the hobbits from a willow tree, trying on the ring without any effects, and saving the hobbits from the barrow wights.

Arwen is not in the first book, in fact, she shows up in the last book, “The Return of the King”. It is Glorfindel, an elf lord, who comes to help Frodo, not Arwen. Frodo’s flight to the ford of the river is done on his own. When he crosses the river, the nine black riders follow, and the river rises against him with the white horses frothing, but Elrond does this, with Gandalf’s help, and not Arwen.

The orcs are flawed when it seems they can crawl upside down like bats, and there are a bit too many of them in Moria. I’m not sure that Saruman bred them in quite the way portrayed in the movie either.

At the end, it is not at all clear as to whom the orcs carried off. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli follow the orcs to save the hobbits, whether or not it is Merry and Pippin, or Frodo and Sam they are saving. Clues to the fact that Frodo and Sam have pushed on to Mordor in the book is that one boat is missing, but the three companions definitely don’t see Frodo and Sam across the river running into the woods.

Bree itself was a little disappointing in that it was such a dark and dank place. The filmmakers dropped the ball at the Prancing Pony with the whole Strider affair. “The enemy would seem fair and feel foul…” Frodo says. Strider says, “I look foul and feel fair, is that it?” Gandalf left a letter to Butterbur, the innkeeper, who finally gives it to Strider, and it tells about the “proofs” about who the real Strider is. For one, he has the broken sword that was used to cut the one ring from Sauron’s hand, broken about a foot below the hilt.

The fight at Weathertop happened below it, and Strider was present the whole time. Also, the events foreshadowed that Isuldur and Elrond stood atop Mount Doom with the ring, and Isuldur didn’t cast it in, isn’t in the book. Isuldur claimed it for himself, as an heirloom, and never brought it to Mount Doom to destroy.

The only other thing I don’t like is when the ringwraiths screech, it is too loud!

But, forget the flaws! If you haven’t read the books, don’t worry about it. If you have read the books, and notice them, the movie still works, so, again, don’t worry about it.

All in all, “The Lord of the Rings Part 1: The Fellowship of the Ring”, is an outstanding movie on all levels. It works as a film, is full of adventure, embodies fairly faithfully the book, has great action, drama, character development, and more. I have now seen it twice, once on opening day, and once the day after. It is a film I could see again and again, and will definitely want to buy it on DVD when it is available! 5 out of 5 stars!!!!!

UPDATE: Read my review of "The Two Towers" at the following link:

http://www.epinions.com/content_84367216260





Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older