DVD Review: Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring (B+)

Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Ian Holm, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchet, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Bean, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving
MPAA: PG-13
Grade: B+

Review by Ellyn Elm

In a small village in the Shire a young Hobbit named Frodo has been entrusted with an ancient Ring. Now he must embark on an Epic quest in order to destroy it. The basic premise of Lord of the Rings is simple and this simplicity allows all of the elements of fantasy to shine through. Lord of the Rings is a visual masterpiece and director, Peter Jackson, deserves all of the credit that has been bestowed upon him. Jackson does a superb job in transferring words on the page into a feast for the eyes.

I love science fiction and fantasy but science fiction/fantasy has always troubled me: Star Wars, for instance, tries too hard to be both. I dislike immensely Lucas's melding of the cute and fuzzy with high tech. That's my opinion, mind you, and it is for this reason I HATED Star Wars. Lord of the Rings, on the other hand, creates a far richer world. There is a subtlety to the landscapes and characters that enables them to appear more organic, more believable and ultimately much more complex.

I don't feel compelled to blather on and on about this movie as so many others have. What's the point? I'll simply tell you this: Lord of the Rings is a classic tale, allegorical and lyric with a visual arsenal that will knock your socks off! (There are also 2 hours of additional footage on the DVD if you go in for that sort of thing.) In short, this movie does not disappoint.

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