Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (2 Disc Set)
Filed Under: Film, Reviews | Article Tags : DVD review
By: The Dweeb
September 2002
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Well, that’s an overly simplified summary of the movie in any case, there’s a lot more to it than that. Way more. Fellowship is the long awaited film adaptation of arguably the most popular fantasy science fiction novel ever. Peter Jackson had some really big shoes to fill, and I mean big. If he had screwed this up there would have been millions of angry fans storming the gates of New Line demanding his head on a platter. But lucky for him, he churned out one of the best sci fi films to come out in decades. Better than even Star Wars? Oh, I don’t want to go there. I should mention I have always been a fan of the books, and am currently rereading them in preparation of each installment on film.
For the casual movie goer this film may be a bit complicated to keep up with. I highly recommend reading the book before you watch this film. There are many characters, and tons of little details in this story that may confuse someone who hasn’t read it. This film is also quite lengthy, and Peter even omitted parts of the book to make it more compressed. The journey of Frodo and company took months to make, while in the film it only seems like weeks.
That and some other changes Jackson made were for the most part an improvement for the flow of the film, but I do have some beefs with his choice of bringing certain characters more to the forefront of the story than they were in the book. Especially the diminished role of Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and instead throwing in the Arwen (Liv Tyler) character in scenes where she wasn’t even around. I suppose this will make more sense as the other films are released. I was kind of irritated by that, Legolas is one of the best characters in the book. I know Peter was stuck with trying to please both sides of the audience, keeping the hard core fans happy by staying true and also helping the casual movie goer along at the same time.
Fellowship of the Ring will probably go down in film history as a timeless classic, just as the books have. Its beautiful to watch, the sweeping vistas and landscapes depicted in the background is some of the best cinematography I’ve seen in a long while. The special effects are also some of the best in the business, I’d say ILM better watch out for these upstarts from down under. This film is a perfect example of not depending so much on computer animation to tell a story, it is part of the story and doesn’t become the focus of the film. Take some notes George!
The acting in Fellowship is pretty damn good, the extensive cast was able to immerse themselves into these characters very well and make them all very believable. I would almost venture to say they actually put some heart and soul into this, like it was everyone’s pet project.
Ian McKellan IS Gandalf the Grey, he was awesome and should have won that Oscar. His interpretation of the old wizard was dead on, even down to the little details such as the way he smoked his pipe and muttered to himself. Ian was able to show us both sides of Gandalf. At one moment he is dark and mysterious, a powerful force, and in the next he’s a gentle old man, with a sense of humor.
The other standout performance came from Elijah Wood as Frodo. As the main character, he was probably the most challenging to portray. With the entire weight of the world on his shoulders, the ring bearer must accomplish almost the impossible. Take the ring to Mordor to be destroyed or else the world will be destroyed. In the book, he almost becomes zombie like in his quest, he is fighting both the ring itself and all the tremendous challenges Middle Earth can throw at him. Elijah portrays this transformation from happy Hobbit to a more emotionally dark version very well. It was all in the eyes. Damn he’s got some large light bulbs in this film, did they enhance them for the movie?
As I said above, the picture is incredible, and the transfer to DVD is fantastic. Its amazingly clear, and in scenes outside there is a rich palette of colors. The sound on this DVD is also incredible, my subs were working overtime throughout most of the film. Is it me or did they crank up the volume for this movie? At some points the soundtrack seemed to drown out some of the dialogue, but I may have cranked it a little too much (Hey, its my house right?). Howard Shore is an excellent composer, I just love this soundtrack.
This first edition DVD also comes with another disc full of all kinds of goodies. You can spend a long time perusing all the different features on here. There is all the promotional stuff that was aired on television, the documentary shorts from the web site, and a sneak peek at The Two Towers, the second installment to the trilogy. I’m already drooling for this one too.
But, do they include everything? Nope, the ultimate Fellowship of the Ring disc won’t hit shelves till November. There will be a 4 and 5 disc collector’s edition coming out with tons more stuff, including commentary tracks and extended scenes that aren’t on this release. So, if you want the original theatrical release this 2 disc set is for you. I myself will be waiting for the 5 disc set, and I can’t wait durn it!
If this was the only release of this movie, I would say go out and buy it, I think this is one of the best DVD’s released in a long while. But, because it doesn’t have all the extras that I would want, its better off to rent it for now, and get the collector set later.
Reviewer’s Opinion: RENT IT!! (Get the Extended Edition!)
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