The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001) Review

So with the Lockdown back in effect I thought it was time to get started on re watching The Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit Films so yesterday I watched The Fellowship Of The Ring and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees a group of companions from different races have to come together to travel to a dark land to destroy a powerful ring and stop the dark lord Sauron. 

Main Character

Elijah Wood plays Frodo Baggins a Hobbit who is tasked with carrying the ring and he is great here. You really get the feeling that Frodo is out of his depth on the quest but Wood does a good job in making him likeable and you really want to see him succeed in his quest. Viggo Mortenson plays Aragorn and he is brilliant here, he is such a physical actor here and he nails all the action scenes that he is given. He is also a really interesting character, I mean you are given bits and pieces in this film to keep you interested, but not giving you too much right off the bat. 

Supporting Characters 

There are so many characters in this film and everybody is great but I will only talk about a few of them in greater detail. Sir Ian McKellen plays Gandalf The Grey and he is awesome here, Gandalf is so wise and McKellen nails it as the wise, fun and action heavy wizard that is a real mentor figure to the rest of The Fellowship and does it effectively. Sean Bean plays Boromir and he is also a really interesting character here, he has a bit of a darker personality then the other characters but he gives a very memorable performance. Sir Christopher Lee plays Saruman The White and of course he is fantastic, he is a legend and a hue Lord Of The Rings fan so of course he is great in the role, Saruman is another really interesting cog of the film and his dynamic with Gandalf is fascinating to watch. As I said everybody is great, Orlando Bloom is great, Cate Blanchett is great, Sean Astin is great and the whole group is just so great and one of the greatest ensembles of all time. 

Story

The story is great, it brings you into this world as we follow these people come together on this epic quest. The characters and their connection together is what drives the film forward and you will end up caring about all of them throughout, it has a simple good vs evil but layers it with so much depth to make this a great journey. The film may be 3 hours long but the story stays interesting throughout and moves at a really nice pace to keep you intrigued for every minute of the film. 

Script

The script is great, it takes this fantastical world and gives us interesting and down to earth characters that we can look up to and care about. This is obviously a very dramatic film and it nails all of that but it is the humour too that makes this script legendary. You can go from drama to humour and it feels really natural and helps build the world and the characters up. 

Style 

The style of the film is amazing, the landscapes of New Zealand where it was filmed it as beautiful as ever which is advanced by some legendary cinematography mixed with Howard Shore's epic score that just brings you into Middle Earth. Even though the film is 3 hours long it is paced perfectly and as I mentioned before keeps you invested throughout with some great action scenes. 

Overall

Overall, The Fellowship Of The Ring is one of the greatest films ever made, if you haven't seen this film then find not only 3 hours but nine hours to watch all of these films, heck maybe watch the extended editions but do it whenever you can as it is a must watch. 

Rating - 10/10