 Won 4 Oscars. Another 76 wins & 84 nominations With the help of a courageous fellowship of friends and allies, Frodo embarks on a perilous mission to destroy the legendary One Ring. Hunting Frodo are servants of the Dark Lord, Sauron, the Ring's evil creator. If Sauron reclaims the Ring, Middle-earth is doomed. Winner of four Academy Awards®, this epic tale of good versus evil, friendship and sacrifice will transport you to a world beyond imagination. Storyline: An ancient Ring thought lost for centuries has been found, and through a strange twist in fate has been given to a small Hobbit named Frodo. When Gandalf discovers the Ring is in fact the One Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron, Frodo must make an epic quest to the Cracks of Doom in order to destroy it! However he does not go alone. He is joined by Gandalf, Legolas the elf, Gimli the Dwarf, Aragorn, Boromir and his three Hobbit friends Merry, Pippin and Samwise. Through mountains, snow, darkness, forests, rivers and plains, facing evil and danger at every corner the Fellowship of the Ring must go. Their quest to destroy the One Ring is the only hope for the end of the Dark Lords reign! Written by Paul Twomey Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Kenneth Brown on June 17, 2011 -- Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it. It began with the forging of the Great Rings... In 1957, Morton Grady Zimmerman tried his hand at adapting J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" for the silver screen. But Tolkien, despite his satisfaction with early concept art and designwork, was furious with Zimmerman's script. "I would ask them," Tolkien wrote, "to make an effort of imagination sufficient to understand the irritation, and on occasion the resentment, of an author who finds, increasingly as he proceeds, his work treated as it would seem carelessly in general, in places recklessly, and with no evident signs of any appreciation of what it is all about." He wasn't opposed to changes to his text, though. Just changes that affected elements "upon which its characteristic and peculiar tone principally depends." Tolkien defended the integrity of his work with voracity, and put a stop to anything that undermined that integrity. In fact, it would be another forty-four years -- some twenty-eight years after Tolkien's death -- that the complete "Lord of the Rings" saga would be fully realized on the big screen. (Ralph Bakshi's incomplete animated adaptation notwithstanding.) And so it was that, in December of 2001, literary purists, Tolkien devotees, movie critics and cinephiles of all stripes filed into director Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring with bated breath, wondering if the film they were about to see would cause Tolkien irritation or resentment, or if it would even work as a film at all, cut "upon which [the book's] characteristic and peculiar tone principally depends" Thankfully, to his great credit, director Peter Jackson delivered something akin to a miracle: a near-reverential adaptation anchored to the heart and spirit of Tolkien's tale and a dazzling fantasy film in its own right, willing to part ways with the original text when it became, as Tolkien dubbed his saga, "unfilmable." Were he still alive, the late author would have no doubt taken issue with some of the particular decisions Jackson and co-writers Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens made in the course of their adaptation. But he certainly wouldn't be able to say the film treated his work carelessly, recklessly or "with no evident signs of any appreciation of what it is all about." Quite the opposite. Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring is a masterclass in adapting an unfilmable literary text, an arguably perfect fusion of faithfulness and freshness, and a movingly intimate, beautifully haunting grand-scale epic in every sense. It's all at once true to its source and a bold, cinematic take on Tolkien's beloved story. It's resolute in its treatment of the Fellowship's heroes and manages to contextualize and enhance their motivations, conflicts and struggles for a modern audience. It embraces the heights of Tolkien's high fantasy and grounds it in the mud and despair of a Middle-earth in peril. Jackson's extended version of The Fellowship of the Ring, aside from doubling the burden on his shoulders mid-production, afforded the filmmaker a unique opportunity to cast aside one of his greatest limitations -- the final cut's theatrical runtime -- and reinsert scenes and shots that expand upon the characters and themes that, in some cases, were so crucial to Tolkien's text. The Hobbits' trek from Shire to Bree isn't significantly longer, Tom Bombadil and Glorfindel are still nowhere to be found, and the time it takes Gandalf to return to the Shire (in the book, 17 years) remains as truncated and immediate as ever (a wise decision on Jackson's part, all around). No, Jackson's extensions are far more integral to the fabric of the film and the sequels that follow. We're made privy to Isildur's death, given a few more brief glimpses into Bilbo and Frodo's personalities before they part ways, witness the Wood Elves traveling to the Grey Havens, Aragorn singing and visiting his mother's grave, Gandalf giving Frodo an important warning, Galadriel offering gifts to the Fellowship, and other small but welcome moments between the various members of the Fellowship. The scenes themselves aren't monumental, or really all that necessary -- especially when compared to the additional scenes in the Two Towers and Return of the King extended cuts -- but each one serves a greater purpose, enriching the tone and texture of Jackson's adaptation and the humanity and bonds of brotherhood shared between Tolkien's protagonists. In the end, the extended version is as powerful as its theatrical cut, if not more so. The Fellowship of the Ring isn't just an absorbing swords-n-sorcery epic or the first step in a three-part journey. And it certainly isn't a dull Middle-earth road trip, as some have crassly pegged it. No, it's a dense, bountiful trove of spectacular sights, frightening creatures and meaningful moments; a sobering, lushly shot tour de force of harrowing adventure, poetic heartache and gripping conflict; a timeless tale of flawed but endearing heroes who pledge themselves to overcome insurmountable odds no matter the personal cost. Aragorn isn't simply a benevolent scrapper, he's the best of mankind, insecurities and all. Legolas and Gimli aren't merely bickering warriors slowly but surely developing an affinity for one another, they're contrasting voices of reason and wisdom that compel the fellowship toward action. Frodo isn't a victim of circumstance, he's a willing sacrificial lamb who, despite his people's modest roots, commits himself to a task few others could embrace. Sam isn't a dutiful friend, he's the very heart of the fellowship, lending strength wherever there is none, cheer wherever sorrow resides, and discipline wherever the Ring seeks chaos. Gandalf isn't a ubiquitous sage, he's a loving father, a galvanizing guide and an insightful companion. Together, they aren't the world's salvation, they're everything that propels humanity forward whenever hope wavers and fear takes hold. Debate will always swirl around The Fellowship of the Ring, its theatrical and extended cuts, and Jackson's trilogy as a whole. But I can't conceive of an adaptation, particularly in regards to The Fellowship of the Ring, that could strike such a careful balance between the literary practicalities and cinematic possibilities inherent in Tolkien's text. While some will always bemoan the absence of Tom Bombadil and the changes Jackson and his writers made over the course of their adaptation, I can't help but celebrate everything they accomplished. I would even go so far as to say they accomplished the impossible: making The Fellowship of the Ring an engrossing experience for those who treasure Tolkien's books and those who've never cracked a page of "The Lord of the Rings." No small feat, as far as I'm concerned. Jackson proved himself the right filmmaker for the job, Weta and Jackson's production team proved to be exactly what his adaptation needed, and The Fellowship of the Ring, be it the theatrical or extended cut of the film, has proven to be a breathtaking masterpiece worthy of any and all praise it has received and will continue to receive. Assuming The Fellowship of the Ring's new color grading has made its way to Blu-ray exactly as Jackson and Lesnie intended, Warner's Extended Edition Blu-ray release is a strong one. Its highly detailed, notably more filmic video transfer rights many of the wrongs of the previous theatrical cut's presentation; its DTS-HD Master Audio track is, in my estimation, perfect; its supplemental package goes on and on and on; and the film itself remains as powerful a fantasy epic as ever. The film's updated color grading will no doubt give purists fits, but there's still a lot to enjoy about this release. Barring any further revelations, this is presumably as impressive as the Extended Edition of The Fellowship of the Ring will ever look or sound. Cast Notes: Alan Howard (The Ring [voice]), Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins), Noel Appleby (Everard Proudfoot), Sean Astin (Samwise 'Sam' Gamgee), Sala Baker (Sauron), Sean Bean (Boromir), Cate Blanchett (Galadriel), Orlando Bloom (Legolas Greenleaf), Billy Boyd (Peregrin 'Pippin' Took), Marton Csokas (Celeborn), Megan Edwards (Mrs. Proudfoot), Michael Elsworth (Gondorian Archivist), Mark Ferguson (Gil-Galad), Ian Holm (Bilbo Baggins), Christopher Lee (Saruman). IMDb Rating (07/25/14): 8.8/10 from 914,540 users Top 250: #11 IMDb Rating (02/12/12): 8.8/10 from 519,080 users Top 250: #15
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