The Lord of the Rings:
The Fellowship of the Ring
“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
The thought of reviewing the Lord of the Rings films is something that fills me with extreme dread. Because not only are they some of my all-time favourite films (and that means I struggle to write about them without wanting to nonsensically gush praise), but they are genuinely some of the most incredible films ever made. That’s not even me blowing my fanboy horn; the sheer amount of work that went into making these films simply exist is astounding, how much the odds were so monumentally stacked against them, and yet how they not only came out as good films but are widely considered the best fantasy films ever made. I mean the third film won 11 Oscars for crying out loud! So, where do I even begin? I guess I’ll begin at the beginning...sort of.
On his 111th birthday, Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) celebrates with family and friends before bidding everyone a sudden farewell as he vanishes into thin air, leaving his home and possessions, including his favourite ring to his nephew Frodo (Elijah Wood).
Curious of this rings power to make Bilbo vanish, the great wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) sets out to uncover the history behind the magical object only to uncover that it is The One Ring of Power and formerly the possession of the dark lord Sauron who with its power attempted to reign over Middle Earth hundreds of years ago.
Gandalf sets Frodo out on a quest to take the ring to the elves of Rivendell where they will decide what to do with the object. But after nearly losing his life to nightmarish pursuers, and much squabbling at Rivendell, Frodo declares that he will take the ring to Mordor, to the only place it can be destroyed, Mount Doom. He and his band of protectors, the fellowship of the ring, will journey across Middle Earth to complete this quest at any cost.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
The thought of reviewing the Lord of the Rings films is something that fills me with extreme dread. Because not only are they some of my all-time favourite films (and that means I struggle to write about them without wanting to nonsensically gush praise), but they are genuinely some of the most incredible films ever made. That’s not even me blowing my fanboy horn; the sheer amount of work that went into making these films simply exist is astounding, how much the odds were so monumentally stacked against them, and yet how they not only came out as good films but are widely considered the best fantasy films ever made. I mean the third film won 11 Oscars for crying out loud! So, where do I even begin? I guess I’ll begin at the beginning...sort of.
On his 111th birthday, Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) celebrates with family and friends before bidding everyone a sudden farewell as he vanishes into thin air, leaving his home and possessions, including his favourite ring to his nephew Frodo (Elijah Wood).
Curious of this rings power to make Bilbo vanish, the great wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) sets out to uncover the history behind the magical object only to uncover that it is The One Ring of Power and formerly the possession of the dark lord Sauron who with its power attempted to reign over Middle Earth hundreds of years ago.
Gandalf sets Frodo out on a quest to take the ring to the elves of Rivendell where they will decide what to do with the object. But after nearly losing his life to nightmarish pursuers, and much squabbling at Rivendell, Frodo declares that he will take the ring to Mordor, to the only place it can be destroyed, Mount Doom. He and his band of protectors, the fellowship of the ring, will journey across Middle Earth to complete this quest at any cost.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s book, The Lord of the Rings, was famously deemed impossible to translate to any other form of media because of just how rooted in the medium of books it is. Tolkien was a professor of English Language at Oxford, as such much of the fanfare that surrounds Lord of the Rings as a literary work, as well as his other novels, derives from Tolkien’s masterful use of the English language, as well as the great detail he provided for his own fictional languages. The written word of course does not translate perfectly to screen so most of what made the books great would have been lost in the adaptation. But Peter Jackson managed, in many ways, to improve the story of The Lord of the Rings by translating it to a visual medium by being ruthlessly faithful to not only The Lord of the Rings, but also to Tolkien’s other Middle Earth novels.
If you were to read The Fellowship of the Ring and then watch The Fellowship of the Ring you would notice a fair few changes. Not even small ones but massive alterations to the overall structure of the story. The book has been known to be somewhat tedious to read, and whilst the language is incredible, the pace of the story moves at the speed of a snail and regularly goes off on long tangents that ultimately serve little to no purpose to the greater narrative. Jackson separated the wheat from the chaff if you like and removed everything that didn’t directly tie into Frodo’s quest. But rather than then just make that into a film and provide a typical straightforward adaptation as is often the case with films, Jackson dove back into Tolkien’s extended universe in books like The Silmarilion for any details that could relate back to The Lord of the Rings. Anything he found he made sure to work that in, so what we are presented with is actually a much grander and well-rounded story than the book provides, and one where characters outside of the core cast are given much greater depth. The world is just as rich and full of life as it was on the page, there is history in almost every line of dialogue; and despite not having Tolkien’s masterful linguistic skills, Jackson does an incredible job of translating those spellbinding words that are on the page into beautifully crafted visuals.
Let me take the opening of the film as an example. The first five minutes are spent outlining the origins of the One Ring, who Sauron is, who Isildur (Harry Sinclair) is, and what role Elrond (Hugo Weaving) had to play in the great war. These are details that are almost completely absent from the novel and have largely come together as a cohesive introduction through piecing together various bits of lore from Tolkien’s other stories. But in five minutes it not only provides a great action scene to open the film, but it also gets the viewer up to speed on all the important history that is necessary to understand the central plot going forward. There were many rings of power, one ring could control all of them, Sauron wielded this ring and using its power was near unstoppable. Isildur killed him and took the ring; unable to be convinced by Elrond to destroy it, Isildur ran away and was betrayed by the ring to his doom. The ring was later found by Gollum (Andy Serkis) who then after 500 years lost the ring to Bilbo Baggins. Meanwhile Sauron has been slowly regaining power and building an army of orcs in Mordor, awaiting the day where he will be strong enough to fight for control of Middle Earth once again.
You then get moved into the Shire where you meet Bilbo, Frodo and Gandalf. You’re given extensive knowledge of Hobbits, their history, how Gandalf and Bilbo know each other and shown what the ring is capable of. It’s one of the greatest film openings of all time, because even though it takes the best part of 45 minutes to get Frodo on the road with the ring, it covers almost all of the history you need to know for the next three films in a way that's easily digestible. There are more details being added in all the time of course, but these act less as filling in blanks to an incomplete picture like most exposition does and more as providing greater detail to an already complete picture.
If you were to read The Fellowship of the Ring and then watch The Fellowship of the Ring you would notice a fair few changes. Not even small ones but massive alterations to the overall structure of the story. The book has been known to be somewhat tedious to read, and whilst the language is incredible, the pace of the story moves at the speed of a snail and regularly goes off on long tangents that ultimately serve little to no purpose to the greater narrative. Jackson separated the wheat from the chaff if you like and removed everything that didn’t directly tie into Frodo’s quest. But rather than then just make that into a film and provide a typical straightforward adaptation as is often the case with films, Jackson dove back into Tolkien’s extended universe in books like The Silmarilion for any details that could relate back to The Lord of the Rings. Anything he found he made sure to work that in, so what we are presented with is actually a much grander and well-rounded story than the book provides, and one where characters outside of the core cast are given much greater depth. The world is just as rich and full of life as it was on the page, there is history in almost every line of dialogue; and despite not having Tolkien’s masterful linguistic skills, Jackson does an incredible job of translating those spellbinding words that are on the page into beautifully crafted visuals.
Let me take the opening of the film as an example. The first five minutes are spent outlining the origins of the One Ring, who Sauron is, who Isildur (Harry Sinclair) is, and what role Elrond (Hugo Weaving) had to play in the great war. These are details that are almost completely absent from the novel and have largely come together as a cohesive introduction through piecing together various bits of lore from Tolkien’s other stories. But in five minutes it not only provides a great action scene to open the film, but it also gets the viewer up to speed on all the important history that is necessary to understand the central plot going forward. There were many rings of power, one ring could control all of them, Sauron wielded this ring and using its power was near unstoppable. Isildur killed him and took the ring; unable to be convinced by Elrond to destroy it, Isildur ran away and was betrayed by the ring to his doom. The ring was later found by Gollum (Andy Serkis) who then after 500 years lost the ring to Bilbo Baggins. Meanwhile Sauron has been slowly regaining power and building an army of orcs in Mordor, awaiting the day where he will be strong enough to fight for control of Middle Earth once again.
You then get moved into the Shire where you meet Bilbo, Frodo and Gandalf. You’re given extensive knowledge of Hobbits, their history, how Gandalf and Bilbo know each other and shown what the ring is capable of. It’s one of the greatest film openings of all time, because even though it takes the best part of 45 minutes to get Frodo on the road with the ring, it covers almost all of the history you need to know for the next three films in a way that's easily digestible. There are more details being added in all the time of course, but these act less as filling in blanks to an incomplete picture like most exposition does and more as providing greater detail to an already complete picture.
During the first half of the film, before Frodo and company arrive in the Elven city of Rivendell, we meet just over half of the fellowship.
Elijah Wood is the leading man Frodo Baggins. A surprising choice for many before the film released I’m sure, as Frodo in the books is significantly older than Elijah Wood. But this is where Jackson’s timeline trickery has worked wonders at streamlining the story yet again. After Bilbo’s birthday in the book there is a gap of several decades before Gandalf warns Frodo about the dangers of the ring. But in the film only a few weeks or maybe months have passed. As a result, Frodo is a much younger character than he is in the books, and this is why many people dislike Elijah as Frodo. Frodo is perhaps the worst character in the Lord of the Rings films and it’s because most of the time he is very whiny, completely hopeless, and complains far too much. One of the few things Jackson didn’t change (which he probably should have in retrospect) is Frodo’s attitude towards the situation he is in, and it all comes down to age. In the book Frodo is an old Hobbit. Sam Gamgee (Sean Astin) comes with him to look after him because Frodo is old and Sam who is young looks out for him, not because they’re good friends. As a result, book Frodo is often unable to protect himself, others in his party, or even make completely rational decisions because he’s too old to do any different. His outlook is also appropriately downtrodden for much of the story because all he wants to do is live out the rest of his days in the Shire, not trapse across Middle Earth to defeat some evil he's never seen or heard of. He want’s someone younger to do that. But Elijah Wood being cast as Frodo makes Frodo much younger in the film and as a result he just comes off as a bit pathetic for much of the story. He’s a character that’s very difficult to root for because at almost every turn, particularly in the sequels, he’s just so annoying. This then isn’t helped by the fact that Elijah Wood doesn’t really indicate that he’s trying much. This may just be some bad scriptwriting or poor direction, but all his dialogue seems half arsed, and when he’s not talking we get close ups of his face in near orgasmic states which is supposedly him in pain.
Thankfully Astin's portrayal as Sam thankfully makes up for Frodo’s underwhelming portrayal. Sam is Frodo’s right-hand man. At first, Sam is completely oblivious to the dangers that lie outside of Hobbiton and is more concerned with keeping Frodo and himself on full bellies at all times with regular luxurious food breaks. This does quickly change once they leave Rivendell where Sam realises, he must be Frodo’s protector above all else, not just his companion. Astin is the perfect Sam. He’s got all the quirky mannerisms and the genius comic timing, as well as the facial expressions to show that he’s being deadly serious despite whatever he’s proposing sounding completely preposterous. Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) may often be considered the comic relief, but it’s Sam who usually gets me belly laughing throughout.
These two mischievous Hobbits are usually the source of all trouble for the fellowship in this film. The two play the characters so well and have excellent chemistry together, any scene with them is well and truly going to be a barrel of laughs, even when it’s supposed to be serious. Boyd’s excellent facial expressions combined with Monaghan’s superb line delivery make the two some of the best characters of the series and are always at their strongest when they are on screen together.
Sir Ian McKellan as Gandalf is a perfect casting choice. The legendary British actor portrays the wizard with great diversity. In one scene he may be terrifying with his booming voice and looming presence, yet in another he is a cheerful old man with a funny hat. McKellan hit all the highs and all the lows he needs to as Gandalf to present one of the most complex and beloved characters Tolkien ever created in a way that is completely faithful to the books and yet still distinctly McKellan. I don’t think there is another actor I could have picked to play him.
Finally, for now anyway, there is Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn. Aragorn is one of the more mysterious characters when we first meet him, but as the story progresses we see that there is more than meets the eye with this skilled fighter and he is actually the long-lost heir to the throne of Gondor, the king of men. Interestingly Mortensen wasn’t actually signed on to play Aragorn until shooting had already begun but it absolutely worked out for the best as Mortensen brings with him an air of mystery that he slowly unveils over the course of the three films. His commitment to performing his own stunts and combat sequences is also extremely commendable (something I’ll elaborate on further in my Two Towers review) and really goes a long way in selling us on the reality of this man with unnaturally long life.
Elijah Wood is the leading man Frodo Baggins. A surprising choice for many before the film released I’m sure, as Frodo in the books is significantly older than Elijah Wood. But this is where Jackson’s timeline trickery has worked wonders at streamlining the story yet again. After Bilbo’s birthday in the book there is a gap of several decades before Gandalf warns Frodo about the dangers of the ring. But in the film only a few weeks or maybe months have passed. As a result, Frodo is a much younger character than he is in the books, and this is why many people dislike Elijah as Frodo. Frodo is perhaps the worst character in the Lord of the Rings films and it’s because most of the time he is very whiny, completely hopeless, and complains far too much. One of the few things Jackson didn’t change (which he probably should have in retrospect) is Frodo’s attitude towards the situation he is in, and it all comes down to age. In the book Frodo is an old Hobbit. Sam Gamgee (Sean Astin) comes with him to look after him because Frodo is old and Sam who is young looks out for him, not because they’re good friends. As a result, book Frodo is often unable to protect himself, others in his party, or even make completely rational decisions because he’s too old to do any different. His outlook is also appropriately downtrodden for much of the story because all he wants to do is live out the rest of his days in the Shire, not trapse across Middle Earth to defeat some evil he's never seen or heard of. He want’s someone younger to do that. But Elijah Wood being cast as Frodo makes Frodo much younger in the film and as a result he just comes off as a bit pathetic for much of the story. He’s a character that’s very difficult to root for because at almost every turn, particularly in the sequels, he’s just so annoying. This then isn’t helped by the fact that Elijah Wood doesn’t really indicate that he’s trying much. This may just be some bad scriptwriting or poor direction, but all his dialogue seems half arsed, and when he’s not talking we get close ups of his face in near orgasmic states which is supposedly him in pain.
Thankfully Astin's portrayal as Sam thankfully makes up for Frodo’s underwhelming portrayal. Sam is Frodo’s right-hand man. At first, Sam is completely oblivious to the dangers that lie outside of Hobbiton and is more concerned with keeping Frodo and himself on full bellies at all times with regular luxurious food breaks. This does quickly change once they leave Rivendell where Sam realises, he must be Frodo’s protector above all else, not just his companion. Astin is the perfect Sam. He’s got all the quirky mannerisms and the genius comic timing, as well as the facial expressions to show that he’s being deadly serious despite whatever he’s proposing sounding completely preposterous. Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) may often be considered the comic relief, but it’s Sam who usually gets me belly laughing throughout.
These two mischievous Hobbits are usually the source of all trouble for the fellowship in this film. The two play the characters so well and have excellent chemistry together, any scene with them is well and truly going to be a barrel of laughs, even when it’s supposed to be serious. Boyd’s excellent facial expressions combined with Monaghan’s superb line delivery make the two some of the best characters of the series and are always at their strongest when they are on screen together.
Sir Ian McKellan as Gandalf is a perfect casting choice. The legendary British actor portrays the wizard with great diversity. In one scene he may be terrifying with his booming voice and looming presence, yet in another he is a cheerful old man with a funny hat. McKellan hit all the highs and all the lows he needs to as Gandalf to present one of the most complex and beloved characters Tolkien ever created in a way that is completely faithful to the books and yet still distinctly McKellan. I don’t think there is another actor I could have picked to play him.
Finally, for now anyway, there is Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn. Aragorn is one of the more mysterious characters when we first meet him, but as the story progresses we see that there is more than meets the eye with this skilled fighter and he is actually the long-lost heir to the throne of Gondor, the king of men. Interestingly Mortensen wasn’t actually signed on to play Aragorn until shooting had already begun but it absolutely worked out for the best as Mortensen brings with him an air of mystery that he slowly unveils over the course of the three films. His commitment to performing his own stunts and combat sequences is also extremely commendable (something I’ll elaborate on further in my Two Towers review) and really goes a long way in selling us on the reality of this man with unnaturally long life.
Once the group arrive at Rivendell, Lord Elrond calls a council where the fate of the ring is decided, and where Frodo announces he will take the ring to Mordor and the fellowship is truly born. The Council of Elrond is a difficult chapter of a book to translate to screen because it is just a group of people, many of whom we have never met before, sitting around a piece of jewellery arguing about who gets it and for what purpose. But it is also the pivotal point in the story where the rest of the saga is set up. Thankfully Jackson doesn’t linger on this scene for any longer than necessary. We only really get dialogue from characters we either already know or will come to know much better over the rest of the film, and what is a bloated 40-page chapter is resolved in around five minutes of screen time without actually losing anything important. Much like I stated earlier, if anything it’s improved by being streamlined because it becomes much less tedious.
But here we are introduced to the final members of the fellowship; Legolas (Orlando Bloom), Gimli (John Rhys Davies), and Boromir (Sean Bean).
Legolas, played by self-proclaimed chavvy Canterbury lad Orlando Bloom, is a young elf with much to learn. Inspired by Frodo’s bravery he joins him on the quest to destroy the One Ring. This was Bloom’s first major film role and it’s understandable why he went on to do so well following his stint as Legolas. He played the character with the inquisitive cockiness it needed and although he only really gets to shine in the sequels when he and John Rhys-Davies’ Gimli spend more time together, in Fellowship of the Ring he does a pretty good job of keeping himself interesting among such a large ensemble.
John Rhys-Davies as Gimli is another fantastic casting choice. The thespian demands attention despite his short stature with his booming voice and incredible line delivery. Much like Legolas he truly gets to shine in the sequels, but particularly in the Moria scenes of Fellowship he makes himself a force to be reckoned with and steals the spotlight many times.
Finally, Sean Bean's Boromir perfectly contrasts Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn. A man of Gondor who has seen battle and does not fear death, yet desires to use the ring for his own purposes in order to make Gondor stronger. However, he consistently fails to understand that the ring will not bow to him, but instead twist him into succumbing to the dark lord Sauron. Bean brings a sense of unease to Boromir, in a way that the audience can never quite tell if or when he is going to snap and kill the other members of the fellowship. Ultimately Boromir dies in combat in the climactic battle of the film, which was cleverly shifted forward from Two Towers to Fellowship by Jackson, in order to give the film some real emotional punch for an ending. Although Bean doesn’t get much screen time over the three films due to his death at the end of Fellowship, his powerful performance can be felt rippling throughout the sequels.
But here we are introduced to the final members of the fellowship; Legolas (Orlando Bloom), Gimli (John Rhys Davies), and Boromir (Sean Bean).
Legolas, played by self-proclaimed chavvy Canterbury lad Orlando Bloom, is a young elf with much to learn. Inspired by Frodo’s bravery he joins him on the quest to destroy the One Ring. This was Bloom’s first major film role and it’s understandable why he went on to do so well following his stint as Legolas. He played the character with the inquisitive cockiness it needed and although he only really gets to shine in the sequels when he and John Rhys-Davies’ Gimli spend more time together, in Fellowship of the Ring he does a pretty good job of keeping himself interesting among such a large ensemble.
John Rhys-Davies as Gimli is another fantastic casting choice. The thespian demands attention despite his short stature with his booming voice and incredible line delivery. Much like Legolas he truly gets to shine in the sequels, but particularly in the Moria scenes of Fellowship he makes himself a force to be reckoned with and steals the spotlight many times.
Finally, Sean Bean's Boromir perfectly contrasts Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn. A man of Gondor who has seen battle and does not fear death, yet desires to use the ring for his own purposes in order to make Gondor stronger. However, he consistently fails to understand that the ring will not bow to him, but instead twist him into succumbing to the dark lord Sauron. Bean brings a sense of unease to Boromir, in a way that the audience can never quite tell if or when he is going to snap and kill the other members of the fellowship. Ultimately Boromir dies in combat in the climactic battle of the film, which was cleverly shifted forward from Two Towers to Fellowship by Jackson, in order to give the film some real emotional punch for an ending. Although Bean doesn’t get much screen time over the three films due to his death at the end of Fellowship, his powerful performance can be felt rippling throughout the sequels.
The Fellowship of the Ring is the most gorgeous of the three Lord of the Rings films to watch due to it being far more colourful and light-hearted in tone compared to the comparatively grim and grey sequels. The filming locations in New Zealand used for outdoor scenes appear fantastical in nature, despite being completely real. Many of the sets were even built into the landscape themselves to reduce the amount of CGI used. Funny when you consider how these films were truly pioneering state of the art CG effects, but wherever possible Jackson (in collaboration with the now extremely prestigious Weta Workshop) was using practical effects, real sets, or miniature sets. It likely comes from his background as an indie horror film director, so he knows how to get the most out of something that’s really there as opposed to relying on computers doing the work for him. Speaking of which the CGI has aged relatively well. Some of the more obviously CG elements such as Moria’s troll and large clusters of soldiers are starting to show their age, but most of the smaller CG effects are so seamlessly integrated to the film that you barely notice they are there.
One of my favourite things about the Lord of the Rings films, particularly Fellowship though, is the way Jackson tricks viewers into viewing the Hobbit actors as smaller than the other actors. Hobbit are only a few feet tall so understandably casting average height people for the roles will present challenges when trying to portray that on screen. So Jackson uses a mix of dwarf actors, CG, and camera trickery to make audiences believe that Elijah Wood really is three feet smaller than Ian McKellan. This is perfectly shown in a scene early in the film between Gandalf and Bilbo in Bilbo’s home. Most of the effects used here are simply clever camera placement or using two different sized sets of the same house. Gandalf appears to tower over Bilbo in these scenes, but realistically the actors aren’t all too dissimilar in their height. Even though I’ve seen behind the scenes footage of these scenes being shot, even now when I watch it I still believe that Bilbo is tiny and Gandalf is huge when they stand next to each other.
I feel that’s truly what makes these films so special to me; that even though I know all the tricks and I’ve seen how the jigsaw was put together, it never fails to instil a sense of magic in me that few other films do. It’s like having a magician show you how they do a magic trick, then seeing it after knowing how it’s done and still believing it’s magic and not just a clever trick. I’ve seen Fellowship of the Ring roughly 15-20 times as of writing this review and every single time I watch it I get goosebumps and I forget I’m watching a film because it is so captivating. That to me is the sign of an incredible film. I was incredibly lucky to be able to watch this film at the cinema recently, as I never got the opportunity to watch any of them there when I was younger. It was an experience I will never forget, and I adored every second of it.
The Fellowship of the Ring is a film the whole family can enjoy, despite its occasionally dark themes, and it’s an adventure film for the ages. Don’t let the long runtime put you off (anywhere between 3 hours and 3 hours 48 minutes depending on the version you watch) as it really justifies being that long; If anything I recommend going for the longest version possible (which is the Extended Edition on 4K or Blu-Ray) as the extra scenes allow huge amounts of otherwise absent character development, and even entire plot sequences, to be added in where there was previously no time to do so with the theatrical cut. If you’re yet to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring I cannot recommend it enough, no matter which version you choose to go for.
One of my favourite things about the Lord of the Rings films, particularly Fellowship though, is the way Jackson tricks viewers into viewing the Hobbit actors as smaller than the other actors. Hobbit are only a few feet tall so understandably casting average height people for the roles will present challenges when trying to portray that on screen. So Jackson uses a mix of dwarf actors, CG, and camera trickery to make audiences believe that Elijah Wood really is three feet smaller than Ian McKellan. This is perfectly shown in a scene early in the film between Gandalf and Bilbo in Bilbo’s home. Most of the effects used here are simply clever camera placement or using two different sized sets of the same house. Gandalf appears to tower over Bilbo in these scenes, but realistically the actors aren’t all too dissimilar in their height. Even though I’ve seen behind the scenes footage of these scenes being shot, even now when I watch it I still believe that Bilbo is tiny and Gandalf is huge when they stand next to each other.
I feel that’s truly what makes these films so special to me; that even though I know all the tricks and I’ve seen how the jigsaw was put together, it never fails to instil a sense of magic in me that few other films do. It’s like having a magician show you how they do a magic trick, then seeing it after knowing how it’s done and still believing it’s magic and not just a clever trick. I’ve seen Fellowship of the Ring roughly 15-20 times as of writing this review and every single time I watch it I get goosebumps and I forget I’m watching a film because it is so captivating. That to me is the sign of an incredible film. I was incredibly lucky to be able to watch this film at the cinema recently, as I never got the opportunity to watch any of them there when I was younger. It was an experience I will never forget, and I adored every second of it.
The Fellowship of the Ring is a film the whole family can enjoy, despite its occasionally dark themes, and it’s an adventure film for the ages. Don’t let the long runtime put you off (anywhere between 3 hours and 3 hours 48 minutes depending on the version you watch) as it really justifies being that long; If anything I recommend going for the longest version possible (which is the Extended Edition on 4K or Blu-Ray) as the extra scenes allow huge amounts of otherwise absent character development, and even entire plot sequences, to be added in where there was previously no time to do so with the theatrical cut. If you’re yet to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring I cannot recommend it enough, no matter which version you choose to go for.