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The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
directed by Peter Jackson

It is not often that a book makes a successful transition to the screen. Peter Jackson's version of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring proves to be one of the rare exceptions. It is not without it faults but it is still a remarkable, watchable piece of work.

The story concerns a hobbit, Frodo Baggins, who discovers himself to be bearing the One Ring belonging to Sauron, the Dark Lord. Sauron had put much of his powers into the Ring in order to let it control the other Rings of Power possessed by the Elves, Dwarves and Men. Sauron lost the Ring thousands of years ago in a war with the Last Alliance of Men and Elves. Now he has learned that the Ring has been found.

As for Frodo, he learns that the only way his world can be safe from Sauron is to destroy the ring (and Sauron's power) by going into the heart of the land of Mordor, the stronghold of Sauron, and cast it into the volcano, Mount Doom.

The Fellowship of the Ring follows Gandalf (the wizard) and Frodo's discovery about the One Ring, Frodo's flight from his home in the Shire towards Rivendell, the forming of the Fellowship of the Ring to help him in his task and the Fellowship's intial journey towards Mordor. He will face many dangers like the Nine Ringwraiths (nine men who were bearers of Rings of Power who fell under the power of Sauron) and, in the depths of the Mines of Moria, an ancient evil that is even older than Sauron. But the greatest danger will come from the Ring itself for its power tempts people to use the Ring until they are corrupted by it.

Jackson has been able to capture the feeling of Tolkien's book and put it into the movie, while necessarily altering parts of the story to make it more dramatic and fit in the three hour length of the movie. The scenery is wonderful and, for the most part, fit my own impressions based on the book.

What amazes me is that Jackson has managed to fit in parts of Tolkien's book almost verbatim. The final confrontation between Gandalf and the Ancient Evil in Moria is as described by Tolkien. So too is the confrontation between Frodo and one of the members of the Fellowship towards the end; a confrontation that will decide the fate of the Fellowship.

One part was altered from the book: a speech by Gandalf to Frodo about having pity on others, even if they appear completely evil. This speech was near the beginning of the book but in the movie, it appears during their travels through Moria. This speech was important as it foreshadows an important decision Frodo will make in the future and I had wondered how Jackson was going to fit it in the movie.

The movie isn't uniformly good; some characters (like Merry and Pippin) are one-dimensional (in this case, mostly comedic) but hopefully there will be some development in their characters as they take on more important roles in the future. And some alterrations to the story appear to be put it just for a quick effect.

On the whole, this is a remarkable movie and Jackson should be praised for being daring enough to put Tolkien's work on the screen and managing to pull it off for the first part. The story is to be continued in the following movies, The Two Towers and The Return of the King.

[Home Page][Index of Reviews][Hercules][The Two Towers]

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring directed by Peter Jackson

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
directed by Peter Jackson