One ring to rule them all.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a 2001 epic fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson, written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Peter Jackson, produced by New Line Cinema and WingNut Films, and distributed by New Line Cinema. It is based off of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume of J.R.R. Tolkien's 1955 novel, The Lord of the Rings. It stars Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen. The film was nominated for and won Best Cinematography, Best Makeup, Best Original Score, and Best Visual Effects, while also being nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Original Song, and Best Sound. This is the second adaptation of The Lord of the Rings as well as the first in the Middle-earth film franchise. It was preceded by The Lord of the Rings, but, chronologically, it was preceded by The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. It was followed by The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. In 2022, the film was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically" significant.
"You shall not pass!" - Gandalf the Grey
Plot
After his uncle Bilbo Baggins disappears on his eleventy-first birthday, young Hobbit Frodo Baggins inherits all of Bilbo's possessions, including a mysterious ring. Under the guidance of the wizard Gandalf, Frodo uncovers the story of the ring and embarks on a thrilling adventure to stop a great evil from coming.
My Favorite Thing About The Fellowship of the Ring
I've tried reading Lord of the Rings multiple times, but have never gotten into it, so I finally caved and decided to watch the movies. This film is a truly awe-inspiring spectacle that demonstrates an incredibly amount of creativity and imagination behind the camera. For years, no one could figure out how to adapt this story into a film, and Peter Jackson cracked the code here. To this day, it's still wildly impressive. The scope of the film is gigantic. There are these enormous set pieces and memorable action sequences that you wonder how they were able to pull off. This film is similar to A New Hope in the way that it just opens the audience's eye to how creative you can get with a movie. From a sheer filmmaking perspective, it's so, so impressive.
My Least Favorite Thing About The Fellowship of the Ring
I didn't quite adore this movie as much as I expected, and I think a part of that is due to the length. Now, obviously, all three Lord of the Rings movies are three hours long, but Fellowship is setting everything up. It does a great job of setting everything up, but the action and payoff isn't quite as prominent as I'm guessing it will be in Two Towers and Return of the King. Middle-earth is, of course, an extremely interesting world, but when you've got a three-hour long movie that is setting up a trilogy, it's bound to drag at points, and I think Fellowship does.
Why The Fellowship of the Ring Is Great
Like Star Wars and Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings is just an extremely immersive and interesting world filled with great characters and thrilling adventures that just feel different. There's a different amount of creativity that goes into something this epic and this imaginative, and the fact that it pulls it off this well is just so impressive. There's a reason that these movies are considered some of the greatest of all time. They are so ambitious and so impressive. I am so excited to watch the next two entires of this trilogy.
Final Thoughts and Score
While The Fellowship of the Ring falls just short of what I expected, there is no denying that this is a great movie and a cinematic achievement as a whole. Great characters, a great story, and a completely immersive world kick off one of the most acclaimed trilogies of all time.
I will go Sweet here. Age range is 11+.
SWEET N' SOUR SCALE
Sweet (Great) Savory (Good) Sour (Bad)
Moldy (Terrible)
"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"
Fun Factor: 8.5/10
Acting: 9/10
Story: 9.5/10
Characters: 8.5/10
Quality: 9/10
Directed by Peter Jackson
Rated PG-13 for fantasy violence and action, frightening themes and images, thematic elements
Released on December 19, 2001
2 hours and 58 minutes
Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins
Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey
Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn / Strider
Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee
Sean Bean as Boromir
Billy Boyd as Peregrin Took
Dominic Monaghan as Merry Brandybuck
John Rhys-Davies as Gimli
Orlando Bloom as Legolas
Liv Tyler as Arwen
Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
Christopher Lee as Saruman the White
Hugo Weaving as Lord Elrond
Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins
Andy Serkis as Gollum
Sala Baker as Sauron
Harry Sinclair as Isildur