The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Peter Jackson

New Zealand, USA

178 min, color, English

I can honestly say that this film was something I have been waiting for for the last two years (ever since I heard the first rumors of its making). Jackson is one of my favorite directors even though he is relatively unknown in the US (pity, for his Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles, and Braindead are among the most hilarious and outrageous pieces of film-making). If there was a director with the guts and vision to bring Tolkien's legendary work to the big screen, Jackson was the man (and the New Zealand army was the countless extras). Although every Tolkien fan has his own version of LOTR in the mind's eye, I think Jackson succeeded in delivering what would appeal to just about every single one of us. I have only seen this film three times (but I promise I will soon rectify this deficiency) and am just barely about to comment on it.

The story, of course, is superb. Jackson even managed to improve on it (see below). The cast is incredible. I have never seen a dreamier elf than Legolas (Orlando Bloom), or a trustier dwarf than Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), a prettier future queen than Arwen (Liv Tyler), or a more believable ranger than Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), a more torn Boromir (Sean Bean), or a more determined Sam (Sean Astin). Of course, both Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Gandalf (Ian McKellen) were simply superb. I am hard pressed to choose my favorite actor but I think that Sean Astin's Sam and Sean Bean's Boromir were especially good (maybe because they came very close to what I have always thought about them). In any case, the cast brooked no rival.

Howard Shore's score was appropriate and had that fantasy feel without being cliché (a hard thing to do). I even enjoyed Enya's piece (gasp). The special effects were awesome, even if they showed in a couple of places (the battle with the cave troll, especially when Legolas jumped him, or when the fellowship was running through Moria). Even though ILM is the standard-setter in this area, Weta Digital has beaten the master.

I am thankful that Jackson did not decide to copy the book to the letter. Although diehard fans probably screamed bloody murder when Tom Bombadill failed to make an appearance, for my part I was rather happy. That dumb character was quite annoying and superfluous in the book, and it would have been laughable in the movie. All right, maybe we did not get to see the Old Willow trying to chew on hobbits, and maybe we missed the close call at the Barrow-Downs, but then we got plenty else that was only obliquely treated in the text. I am happy that Jackson did not go for the beloved trick of flashbacking parts of the story (which Tolkien rather unforgivably did) and told of Gandalf's escape from Isengard in "real time" thus screwing the tension much higher than it would have been possible if he simply recalled all of it while sitting in the comfort of Rivendell. I am also happy that Arwen got to save Frodo from the Ringwraiths, which she never did in the book. I really disliked the original version where the horse gets all the kudos. Placing Arwen there also allowed Jackson to tell us more about the romance between her and Aragorn, which in the book simply thuds at the very end, to everyone's consternation.

I am not about to claim that Jackson made a better book than LOTR, but he managed to capture on celluloid everything that was worth capturing and then some. It is also stunning how faithful the adaptation is in details (e.g. although we are never explicitly shown how the nine of the fellowship obtain their grey elven cloaks, they do have them on when they leave Lothlorien.) Some minuses (which should be especially evident to people who have not read the book) include the rather thin link between Sam and Frodo (it will be quite a feat to pull off the concluding journey through Mordor, which was entirely Sam's doing). Also, Boromir's speech at the Council of Elrond betrayed too much of what was going to happen later on. Finally, it is not at all clear why in the world they decide to send only nine (and nine precisely), and why elves, dwarves, and men join the hobbits. Yeah, yeah, some threat from Sauron (who can't even acquire physical shape yet) but who are these races and why do they go? Also, I was not sure I liked the innovation that Saruman caused the party to fail the passage through Caradhras. Also, Saruman was shown was taking orders from Sauron through the palantir, which was not true in the book and will make it difficult for Jackson to explain his treachery in the next episode. Ah, minor quibbles are all these.

Ah, I can't wait for the DVD... I will cradle it in my hand, and caress it every time before I put it in the player, "It's mine. My precious..."

February 6, 2002