A Review Of The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring

Summary 

The world where the story takes place is the fantastical world of Middle Earth. In it are orcs, elfs, wizards and hobbits (creatures that look exactly like humans, but smaller and with massive feet). The story starts of at the party of Bilbo Baggins, a simple hobbit who is by chance in possession of the One Ring, an enormously powerful artifact created by the Dark Lord Sauron to rule over Middle-Earth. Luckily for him, Bilbo does not know this. At the end of his party, Bilbo tells his friends and acquaintances that he has decided to leave the Shire (the place where all hobbits live) to travel the world. He also decides to give the Ring to his cousin Frodo, but when it becomes time to give Frodo the ring, he becomes strangely reluctant. We later learn that this is because the Ring has a corrupting effect on all its wearers, and so will make anyone reluctant to part with it.

Frodo accepts the ring but later learns from the wise wizard Gandalf that it is in fact the One Ring. Gandalf continues after imparting this information with the fact that the One Ring is being sought after by Sauron and Frodo needs to leave the Shire immediately. Frodo agrees and takes his good friend Sam with him on this new adventure.

The story continues with the many trials and tribulations that Frodo, Sam and also Gandalf at some points, face in protecting the Ring from Sauron. They try to gather as many as they can to their cause to face this challenge and succeed to a certain degree in gathering the potential king Aragorn. Frodo eventually gets injured by the forces of Sauron and only barely makes it to the elven city of Rivendell where he is healed. Here a council is held where Frodo learns the full history of the Ring and where a group is created to help Frodo on his journey. This group consists of the likes of elves, wizards, hobbits, humans and dwarfs. This group continues the journey to face the growing danger of the Dark Lord Sauron.

Important to note is that this film is the first of a trilogy, and so doesn’t have a real ending per se.

Head characters and actors 

Frodo - played by Elijah Woods

Frodo is the main character of the story. Simply said, he is the most ordinary hobbit one could imagine. There is nothing special about him, except for his unfailing will of iron and his refusal to submit to the corruption of the Ring, and these two characteristics make him the perfect candidate as ring bearer.

Sam - played by Sean Astin

Sam is Frodo’s friend. He is also a simple hobbit, but his main strengths are his common sense and his unfailing loyalty to Frodo. These make him the perfect companion for our hero.

Gandalf - played by Ian McKellen

Gandalf the Grey is the wise old companion of our adventurers. He advises them where it is needed and guides them to their eventual goal. He is also a wizard, which comes in quite handily in some parts of the film

Aragorn - played by Viggo Mortensen

Aragorn is the first companion that our adventurers come across. He is a Ranger but also the heir of the kings of Isildur, a great race of men that are nearly extinct. He is a warrior in the group and quite a formidable one at that.

Opinion filmwork

In my opinion the film “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings” is one of the best films of the last few decades. The cast was amazingly chosen, although Elijah sometimes seemed a bit wooden although the rest of the cast seem amazingly immersed in their roles. While I was watching it I really felt like I was in Middle-Earth, and not just New Zealand (an amazing choice for the location by the way), watching the group struggle through their hardships. The camerawork was amazing, with specific angles always having been chosen for a specific reason. For example, in an opening sequence where Sauron was introduced the director chose a low angle, looking up at Sauron, giving us the feeling of being small and insignificant compared to him. Special effects where also definitely amazing, I didn’t notice a single part of the movie where it didn’t actually feel like there was an explosion or a giant gate standing in the groups path. In conclusion, the quality of the film was simply gorgeous and it showed in how many awards the production crew won with it.

My recommendation

I would give this film a solid 9 out of 10. The film is simply a masterpiece and was definitely groundbreaking for when it was filmed for all the facts I have given above. The only reason I would not give it 10 stars is because it is 18 years old by now and like all films, has become slightly outdated. It really immerses you in the story and makes you feel as if you’re living in the world of Middle-Earth and going on an adventure with Frodo and that is the reason why I like this film so much. I would recommend this to anyone interested in the fantasy genre or even anyone slightly interested in an adventure oriented story. The only exception to this would be anyone who is not prepared for a slightly nerdy film. Other than this, I would recommend everyone to give it a watch.