Movie #18: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Movie #: 18
Movie Title: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Year Released: 2001

Director: Peter Jackson
Notable Cast: Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, Sean Bean, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Andy Serkis

Short Description: A meek Hobbit from the Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to destroy the powerful One Ring and save Middle Earth from the Dark Lord Sauron. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: #50
IMDB.com: #13
Ranker.com: #36
Lifed.com: #44
Empire.com: #24
FilmCrave.com: #8
FlickChart.com: #59



Date Watched: 11/19/2016

Grade: 5 out of 5 (Exceptional)

Rationale: In movie history there may not be another film that more perfectly sets up the rest of the movies in a series as well as The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Peter Jackson takes the best parts of J.R.R. Tolkien's opening novel in the trilogy and adapts it with exquisite expertise. The stakes are laid out in a way that makes the quest of the movies seem urgent and important with Sauron and Saruman as clear and very evil bad guys. The lands of the Shire, Rivendell, Moria, and Lothlórien all have real qualities yet are exotic in very unique ways. The relationships between the hobbits and Gandalf are fleshed out well while leaving room for growth in the next entries between Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. I adore this movie and only wish I hadn't passed on seeing it in theaters after judging it like a book by its cover.