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This tale of adventure, danger, courage and
friendship begins on a place called middle earth, a land of
long ago that is not only inhabited by humans, but also dwarfs,
fairies, elves, dwarfs, little people known as Hobbits, wizards,
both good and bad, and forces of evil. The evil Orcs and unseemly
co-horts are still a potential force of great harm to the other
people of middle earth because of the unseen presence of the
evil Lord Sauron, who continues to search for his ring, so he
can have a physical presence once more, and bring his evil plans
to rule home to roost...
While Lord Sauron was physically destroyed in
a great battle centuries ago, his all powerful evil ring was
not destroyed in the Fires of Mount Doom because its evil power
got a hold of the human who had killed Lord Sauron. This human
warrior foolishly refuses to throw the ring into the fire, thus
giving Lord Sauron, now in spirit form a way to still be an
evil influence, which only grows through the centuries of time.
Through some mishaps, the ring is lost for centuries
until a Hobbit, Bildo Baggins gets a hold of it and takes it
back to his Hobbit village. He secretly keeps it close to him,
as a prized possession. As he gets older, he shows no aging.
Finally, at his 100th birthday celebration, he decides to leave,
and mysteriously disappears temporarily when he puts on the
ring for a moment. To his young nephew, Frodo. Bildo gives all
his property, including this evil ring, after Gandalf, the wise
wizard, puts a little pressure on him. The evil influence of
the ring on Bildo is clearly seen temporarily when Gandalf puts
some pressure on Bildo to leave the ring behind.
Bildo's behavior clues Gandalf into the realization
that this ring has an evil hypnotic effect on people. Gandalf
soon discovers that this is Lord Sauron's all powerful ring
created by Lord Sauron to empower his evil plans for middle
earth.
Uh oh! This explains why the Orcs are preparing
for war, and why the mysterious black horse , ghoul riders are
currently riding around the countryside - they are looking for
the ring! Every time someone puts the ring on, it gives a clear
signal to the evil seekers of the ring exactly where it is located.
Since Bildo had foolishly put it on at his birthday party, guess
who was on the way to collect it, and kill the current ring
bearer?
Gandalf quickly sends Frodo, who is now the
ring bearer, with his three Hobbit friends, Merry, Pippin and
Samwise, on a journey to the Prancing Pony Pub and Inn, where
Gandalf plans to meet them after he goes to consult with the
head wizard, Saruman the White (Christopher Lee). Gandalf solemnly
warns Frodo, "You must remember, the Ring is trying to get back
to its master. It wants to be found."
Of course, both the Hobbits and Gandalf are
heading into big trouble, a first installment of exciting, suspenseful,
scary adventure that draws the audience into their dangerous
situations, as the story is masterfully told, with building
suspense, the close calls with the evil ones, as our heroes
sometimes find themselves jumping from the frying pan into the
fire. All these tense situations cause the audience to sit on
the edge of their seats, only to breathe a sigh of relief when
the Hobbits, finally find a safe refuge in the land of the elves,
thanks to the wits and courage of the gallant, sword-wielding
ranger, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), and the beautiful elf princess,
Arwen 'Evenstar' Undómiel (Liv Tyler), who saves Frodo from
death and a damned hellish existence, as a unworldly slave of
Lord Sauron, like the ghoulish black riders.
Unfortunately, Gandalf finds out the hard way
that Saruman the White has fallen under the influence of Lord
Sauron and is actively using his powers to help create a new
army of hybrid Orcs that can fight during daylight hours. After
being Saruman's prisoner, he finds a unique way to escape only
a wizard could come up with, and he heads for land of the elves
for the council of representatives meeting, to decide what must
be done.
It is decided that the ring must be thrown
into the Fires of Mount Doom, to destroy its evil power and
Lord Sauron. During the meeting, the ring's destructive influence
is seen, as they all break into arguments, which stop only when
Frodo bravely once again agrees to be the ring bearer, as he
has a strong resistance to its evil influence.
Frodo, his three Hobbit friends (Merry, Pippin,
and Samwise), supported by the protecting forces Gandalf, ranger
Aragorn, warrior Boromir (Sean Bean), Legolas the Elf (Orlando
Bloom), and Gimli the Dwarf (John Rhys-Davies), all make up
the members of the Fellowship of the Ring, a group of 9, dedicated
to the destruction of the evil ring.
The audience knows that the respite in the land
of the elves is now over, and are soon to be engrossed with
the next installment of adventures that this special Fellowship
must endure and conquer, including not only their own weaknesses,
but also the inevitable battles with the Orcs and other various
evil creatures of this world and the under world sent to stop
them in their quest and steal the ring back, wanted for dastardly
purposes.
Lord of the Rings:Fellowship of the Ring, which
is the first installment of this trilogy, is truly a labor of
love and dedication of not only the marvelous director Peter
Jackson, but everyone who was involved with all the aspects
of the film. It is no wonder that the film was nominated for
13 academy awards, of which they won 4 of them.
The very best effort of everyone involved was
inspired by the love of Tolkien's novel trilogy. The entire
cast and production crew and supporting people made an 18 month
commitment for the filming of all three films in this trilogy
in the rugged outback of New Zealand.
This commitment of dedication, inspiration and
love for Tolkien's adventure story flows throughout the quality
of direction, acting, screenplay, locations, stunning special
effects, set designs, art direction, costumes, make-up, cinematography,
musical score and production values, which all magically come
together to create a truly marvelous, classic film, which fully
captures the spirit of Tolkien's story.
Great attention was paid to detail in everything
the audience sees and experiences, everything from the beautiful
elfin language, to the fur on the Hobbits' feet, to the ghastly
black riders and Orcs, Goblins, Uruks & Ringwraiths, not to
mention the glorious sets, making the audience feel like they've
been transported back to this fantasy, fairy-tale land, making
it all very real and gripping, in this stressful roller coaster
ride of a near continuous battle between good and evil.
The man who was the driving inspirational force,
behind all the enthusiasm and high quality work, that cut no
corners was the terrifically talented director/producer/writer,
Peter Jackson, a New Zealander, whom some actors in his cast
called the original Hobbit, as Jackson is a short, sort of chunky,
enthusiastic sort who offers inspiring direction to the cast,
encouraging their own enthusiasm for the project.
The cast of actors and actresses really got
into their roles and brought the best of their talent and effort
to the film, bringing the script to life.
Ian McKellan, a knighted, British stage actor,
earned an Oscar nomination for his wonderful portrayal of Gandalf.
His counter part, Christopher Lee, also gives
a stunning portrayal of evil, as the turn coat wizard, Saruman
the White.
Young, 21 year old Elijah Wood does an excellent
job portraying the Hobbit, Frodo Baggins, who finds himself
in the difficult position of being the ring bearer of a most
evil ring, which forces him to leave his home and face a perilous
journey, one he is not prepared to take by himself. His main
gift is his ability to resist the evil urges that come from
the ring. My favorite scenes with Frodo are his close shaves
with the black riders.
It becomes apparent that if Frodo and his fellow
bumbling Hobbit friends are to be successful, and not suffer
some awful fate, they will need the help of experienced warriors
to defend, guide and help them.
The ruggedly handsome Viggo Mortensen does a
very convincing job portraying the ranger, a human warrior,
Aragorn, who comes at the nick of time to save the Hobbits at
the Prancing Pony from the black riders, who were hunting Frodo.
Viggo prepared for his role by taking sword fighting lessons
from an expert hired to train the actors. Viggo excelled, learning
more than what was expected.
Sean Bean is also convincing as the human warrior,
Boromir, the heir to a kingdom, who has a weakness for the ring,
but is an excellent, brave fighter. Bean brings his own unique
edge to the characters he plays, and is fun to watch.
John Rhys-Davies does a great job portraying
the dwarf warrior, Gimli. His make-up / costume was quite a
work of art, an ordeal for him to undergo. Anything for your
art!
The battles with the Orcs and friends in the
dwarf mines are well done and quite exciting, as are the above
ground skirmishes which inevitably happen after they leave the
land of the fairies. The choreography of the battle scenes was
top notch. Real people, with black belts, wore the ugly Orc
masks / costumes and were convincing in the battles with our
heroes.
Liv Tyler, offers an interesting portrayal of
the elfin princess, Arwen 'Evenstar' Undómiel, who is the one
who rides Frodo, wounded by a black rider, to the safety of
the land of the elves, with the black riders giving chase. She
crosses a river, says a spell in elfin, and washes away the
black riders. This is one of my favorite sequence of scenes.
Conferring with her love, Aragorn, she takes Frodo and at a
full gallop, on a big horse, she flees to the river, with the
group of black-shrouded riders on black horses giving chase,
not quite catching up to her. The suspense builds until she
crosses the river, says her spell, and gets rid of the riders.
Tyler fell in love with the elfin language, and does a good
job.
Cate Blanchett has a small, but powerful part
as Galadriel, Lady of the Galadhrim, in the land of the fairies,
who finds a dramatic way to bolster Frodo's courage and resolve
to complete his dangerous mission.
The action-packed screenplay, adapted from
Tolkien's novel, was written by Peter Jackson and his wife/partner,
Fran Walsh (also a producer) and Philippa Boyens, this being
her first effort on a major film project.
The gripping cinematography was by an Australian
by the name of Andrew Lesnie, a cinematographer who is active
making films in Australia, such as the classic hit, Babe, and
the sequel, Babe in the City.
Enya , an Irish composer wrote the songs and
Australian composer, Howard Shore wrote the inspiring musical
score.
Peter Jackson recruited Alan Lee, who is widely
recognized as one of the most popular and prolific fantasy artists
in the world, to create the sets. This is his first film effort,
and he did a fantastic job. Life in a Hobbit village, or a Elf
castle, or the grungy underground mines of the dwarfs are fascinating
to see.
Rated PG-13 for epic battle sequences and some
scary images. (Peter Jackson got his start in horror movies,
though there isn't much blood or gore at all).
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