The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Review (Spoilers)

[matt_zimmer]

Finally got around to watching the first of my Lord of the Rings DVDs.



The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

This is one of those movies that is even better in rewatches. SO much iconic imagery and strong performances all around. Ian McKellan OWNS as Gandalf and the movie is just great from start to finish.

I love Bilbo. I think that people who haven't read the books might get a mistaken impression about him being overly crazy. He is actually quite a reasonable fellow in The Hobbit although in the book of The Lord of the Rings he DOES come off as somewhat mad. I REALLY hope Peter Jackson tackles The Hobbit one of these days. It would rule.

I love the relationship between Frodo and Gandalf. When Gandalf dies saving the Fellowship's lives the sense of loss is more palpable than most other movies or TV shows. It genuinely feels like a loss. In the book it was more of a tragic misstep.

I also love Sean Astin as Sam. The end where he refuses to let Frodo go on alone always brings a tear to my eye. The ending of this movie is so incredibly moving.

I love the look Gimli and Legolas give each other right before they follow Aragorn to rescue Merry and Pippin. I love that all of the performances were so iconic and melodramatic. That's exactly what this story needed. Elijah Wood was REALLY good as Frodo.

The scene at the end where Boromir attempts to take the Ring from Frodo by force was done exactly right. Boromir ISN'T a villian and him wanting the Ring is a moral failing and not a reason to hate him. They captured this perfectly.

Aragorn's romance with Arwen is a bit different in the book. Arwen has a MUCH bigger role here. That's okay. Liv Tyler is pretty.

Speaking of pretty Galadriel was so beautiful and great as she should of been. I really liked what they did with her.

I also liked Gandalf's battle with Saruman. Christopher Lee was great too.

The mines of Moria, battle with the troll and Gandalf's showdown with the Balrog was the highlight of the movie. I don't understand why McKellan didn't win the Academy Award. For that matter I'm confused as to why Sean Astin WASN'T EVEN NOMINATED for Return of the King.

This is one of my favorite book adaptations ever. Don't get me wrong, Harry Potter movies are great too. But whenever I see a Harry Potter movie (or at least the last two) I keep thinking about the great scnees they left out from the books. The movie is great from start to finish so I don't really miss Tom Bombadil or ROTK's Scouring of the Shire at all. I love this movie. *****.

Comments

[style92.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I was one of those guys who jumped on the LOTR bandwagon Hardcore and watched and rewatched the first 2 in theatrical and extended cut forms, until I got really burned out on it.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I haven't had that happen because I didn't really do a lot of rewatches but listening to four different commentaries for the extended version DID burn me out for a while.

[mayorofunkytown.livejournal.com]

Well he went crazy. I mean the ring had effected him. I think the movie does a fairly good job of showing that he's a reasonable fellow but for a time he was not quite right in the head.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I like that too.

[90scartoonman.livejournal.com]

I've only seen each movie once, but yeah, Lord of the Rings was a beautiful trilogy. Bilbo will always be cool, I don't care. I wasn't big on Arwen.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

Me neither but she was okay. I'm not sure why her role was expanded though.