Movie: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Actors: Elijah Woods, Ian McKellan et al.
Director: Peter Jackson, Producer:

Any person who is vaguely familiar with literature will be aware of Tolkien`s epic tale of the One Ring and the journey by Frodo Baggins, a hobbit, and his companions (the Fellowship) to the land of Mordor, to try and destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom, whence it was first made by the Dark Lord Sauron.

The novel has consistently been voted as the best fictional book of the 20th century in countless polls by English-speaking readers and therefore it would require something special to transfer this great adventure story with its host of characters and fantastical creatures to the big screen and Peter Jackson has done a great job.

He succeeds so well by sticking closely to the book as much as is cinematically possible whilst using special effects, great locations, great actors, and stunning directoral skills to bring Middle Earth evocatively to life. He already had a brilliant plot and so all that was required was great direction and acting and he made delivers in spades.

This is one of the greatest films ever made and a must-see. Simply stunning. However it must be borne in mind that this is the first of three films (the novel is formed of three parts) and to fully appreciate Peter Jackson`s achievement in this epic one should (a) have read the incomparable novel and (b) wait for all three films to be completed. Still, as a start to the epic trilogy this film is just about perfect (although pedantic Tolkien fans of the novel cannot help but nitpick about the portions of the novel left out!). Awesome and far far superior as a spectacle and a movie than the much-hyped Star Wars prequels. A must-see!