Dan Owen reviews
The Lord of the Rings:
The Fellowship of the Ring
"One Ring To Rule Them All"
Distributed by
New Line Cinema
- Cert:
(not suitable for Under 8s)
- Running time: 178 minutes
- Year: 2001
- Released: 19th December 2001
- Widescreen Ratio: 2.35:1
- Rating: 9/10
Director: Peter Jackson ("Bad Taste", "Braindead", "Meet The Feebles", "Heavenly Creatures", "The Frighteners")
Screenplay: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philipa Boyens (based on the book by J.R.R Tolkien)
Music: Howard Shore
Cast:
Frodo Baggins: Elijah Wood
Gandalf: Ian McKellen
Sauron: Christopher Lee
Bilbo Baggins: Ian Holm
Galadriel: Cate Blanchett
Arwen: Liv Tyler
Aragorn / Strider: Viggo Mortensen
Boromir: Sean Bean
Gimli: John Rhys-Davies
Elrond: Hugo Weaving
Pippin Took: Billy Boyd
Merry Brandybuck: Dominic Monaghan
Samwise Gamgee: Sean Astin
Legolas: Orlando Bloom
J.R.R Tolkien's unfilmable trilogy has been
filmed. Over the next three years each book of his epic fantasy trilogy
"The Lord Of The Rings" will be released, starting with this, the first
book, "The Fellowship Of The Ring", followed by "The Two Towers",
then "The Return Of The King".
So how has translating the literary behemoth to the silver screen fared? Thankfully,
in the hands of auteur director Peter Jackson, the book has been treated
extremely well - but with enough improvements, flourishes and changes to make
it work better for a 21st Century cinema audience with no knowledge of Tolkien's
masterpiece.
The trilogy tells the story of how an innocent Hobbit named Frodo Baggins
becomes entrusted with an evil ring - The One Ring - that was created 2,500
years previously to enslave the population of Middle Earth by the Dark Lord
Sauron. Fortunately, Sauron was narrowly defeated back then, but the ring
survived and is now gradually reawakening its Master, so Frodo becomes the
'ring bearer' for the titular fellowship of ecletic individuals who must
travel across Middle Earth to destroy the ring at Mount Doom where it was
created. Got that?
It's fairly rudimentary stuff, and occassionally hard to imagine how a trio of
3-hour films can keep the momentum going, but at least we get an imaginative
and awesome first part to whet our appetites for more. Events start at a relaxed
pace, with keenly observed dark undertones and some great performances from
Wood, McKellen and Holm. However, once the secret of the One Ring is revealed...
things get really interesting.
For such a long movie the time really does fly past at an amazing rate. The
pacing is absolutely perfect in fact, and any clock-watching is just to
rejoice that there's still more to go once you hit the 2 hour mark! Once the
trilogy is complete, watching a marathon run of all three films will be a
bum-numbing pleasure based on "Fellowship".
New Zealand director Peter Jackson - himself a brave decision to preside over
such an awesome task - has managed to breathe life into the fantasy genre in
much the same way Ridley Scott made historical epics fashionable with
Gladiator.
From the sprawling countryside of The Shire, to the splendour of mountain town
Rivendell, then deep under the dreaded Caves Of Moria... everything is given
so much authenticity thanks to the real-life delights of New Zealand's
locations.
Even better is the exceptional casting, utilising talented newcomers and
established thespians in equal measure. Elijah Wood has never been better
than playing the innocent Frodo, Ian McKellen is a note-perfect Gandalf,
Christopher Lee proves he can still scare as evil sorceror Saruman, Ian Holm
is a particular delight as Bilbo Baggins, Sean Bean gives a solid
performance as the tortured Boromir, newcomer Viggo Mortensen easily sets
himself up as a talent to watch and the rest of the cast are just as good.
However, even given a 3 hour running time, many characters are cruelly
underdeveloped here - such as the dwarf Gimli, Merry and Pipping the hobbits,
or Elf archer Legolas. As it stands now, these characters were merely
additional hands for the fight sequences. But there are two more films to go,
let's not forget...
And that's another "problem" with the film. Unlike many other trilogies (yes,
even
Star Wars),
"Lord Of The Rings" is a proper trio of films. Here you're more acutely
aware you're watching merely the first act of one BIG movie, and therefore the
sense of closure for the film is unsatisfying - although it does leave you
panting for more! One senses you won't fully appreciate any of the films
entirely until the credits roll for "The Return Of The King" in 2003.
That said, it means a lot of problems "Fellowship" does have can easily
be excused because of this three-film setup... which is a blessing. Since you
know you're buying into a 9-hour experience spread over 3 years, so you can
forgive any flaws the first film has.
The music and sound effects are also worthy of special mention. Howard Shore
("Se7en")
does an amazing job at evoking the epic nature of the film, together with the
dramatic human edge that characterizes the piece. His score is both huge and
booming, then tranquil and sweet in equal turn. The film's cohesion owes a lot
to his work, and it truly elevates the action scenes. The sound effects are
similarly a huge plus for the movie and add a great deal of weight and power
to the visuals - particularly the whinnying Black Rider horses...
Of course, for a $109m film the special effects are obviously fabulous. The
film actually has fewer standout effects-driven moments than you may be
expecting, but that's because much of the delight in the film is with more
traditional effects fare - such as hideous makeups for the army of Orks, the
naturally amazing scenery of New Zealand, and extensive sets.
But when full-blown CGI kicks in, it never disappoints. Jackson's WETA company
build upon the fantastic work they did in
"The Frighteners"
ten-fold - giving George Lucas' ILM a run for their money! In particular, an
opening battle sequence (though very short) is a nerve-jangling experience of
visual and audio prowess, as is an attack by the expertly-realised Cave Troll
and the encounter with the Balrog demon. However, the film's effects aren't a
huge quantum leap in photorealism as many were touting in mid-2001, but they
certainly are impressive, and thankfully not overused as in
"The Phantom Menace"
to create a phoney atmosphere.
So what's to hate? Well nothing, really. It takes a while for the actual
journey to start, there are a few lulls in the mid-section, a few moments when
the persistent encounters with various creatures becomes slightly tiresome
(did we really need the tentacled creature?), the Black Riders are somewhat
overused and there are a few other kinks that will probably be ironed out in
the next two installments - so are effectively nullified for now. But this
isn't a film you can hate. It shows more maturity than its genre's reputation
suggests, and whisks you away to Middle Earth for three hours. Enjoy it.
It will be 12 months until we see Middle Earth again... the journey's only
just begun...
Review copyright © Dan Owen, 2001.
E-mail Dan Owen
Read all three of Dan Owen's Lord of the Rings reviews:
2001 The Fellowship of the Ring
2002 The Two Towers
2003 The Return of the King
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DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
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