The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Last Watch Date - March 15, 2025
Total Times Watched - 4?
Comments
I think it's time to rewatch the LOTR movies. It's been about 10 years since I last watched and that was also the extended edition, so let's DO IT AGAIN! These movies are quite long, so the series will be spaced a bit far apart before I finish them all. I still have some TV shows to watch too!
My history with these movies is all post-theater. While I was in college when they came out, I've never been a big theater person. Plus at the time of this coming out, my parents had a big screen TV in their cellar that was great for watching movies. I think it was like 50", which at the time was amazing. I watched this on a 55" TV in my office. A TV that I barely even watch throughout the year. Think about THAT!
I never read the books when I was a kid, so I was going into this pretty raw. I do like massive adventure movies, especially if they have big battles and whatnot, so there's a lot to like here. The battles in this particular movie are relatively small, but I really like the way they bring the orcs out of the ground. All of the Saruman stuff is great and the effects hold up to this day.
I remember the effects being a big thing at the time. "Look how realistic gollum looks" and "wow these locations look amazing." The lands of the elves are probably the goofiest because they have that 80s love scene glow to them, but everything else looks quite good. The makeup for the orcs is great. They have a little humor to them as well.
This movie has the job of starting the trilogy and laying the groundwork for what will be, what was, and why it matters while also staying interesting and fun. I will admit that the first chunk of the movie can drag in parts until they get to the Prancing Pony. I'm not a fan of the hobbits or the Shire, so it's possible that this is my bias against them. I don't adore them the way Gandalf does. Their "simple ways" seem more insular and backward to me than endearing. Why is it such a scandal that Bilbo went on an adventure? And why are you trying to make me side with the Shire hobbits on this!? They're worse than the orcs. You know those visions that Frodo has of the enslaved Shire? Not the worst outcome...
Let's continue on the hobbit hate train for a moment. The relationship between Samwise and Frodo is bizarre. Sam is his gardener, but also his soulmate? I'm not sure I understand. I've had great, close friends over the years and have never looked at any of them the way those two look at each other. Was this some direction from Jackson or a choice by Astin and Wood? Either way it comes off as WEIRD. Oh and if you're going to be hiking hundreds(?) of miles, put on some shoes. I don't care how calloused your disgusting giant feet are, slap some leather on them.
Outside of the hobbits, there is some amazing acting and fun adventure in this movie. The Fellowship in particular (outside of the hobbits, obviously) is great. This movie shows how Gimli and Legolas start out as, if not enemies, as close as they can be to that. Certainly a large amount of distrust. The same goes for Boromir and Aragorn, who are stand-offish at best. By the conclusion of this movie, they're all good buds and have each other's backs and that's PRETTY COOL. It doesn't come across as heavy-handed or shoehorned in either. They bond over being in a difficult situation together and being forced to watch each other's backs. It's one of those band of brothers types of situations.
Every time I start this movie, I think it's going to have some pieces from the Two Towers in it, and then I'm like "oh yeah, this one ends here." I think the first time I saw it, I was excited to see the next one, but also a little unfulfilled. There's a lot of build-up and basically no release of that tension. It makes sense for a first act, but the extended edition is almost four hours long and STILL has no payoff (because you know, it's still the same story). That's a lot of movie for nothing major to happen. Knowing what comes with the next two acts, I'm fine with it, but this movie definitely does NOT stand on its own, nor can you watch any of the three independently. You're "forced" to sit through around twelve hours if you want to watch the extended cuts. It's around ten hours without the extended versions.
What's interesting is that if you break this up into "episodes" it follows a similar pattern as new TV series' do. A season of 10 or 12 1-hourish episodes telling a full story. Would I actually have enjoyed it as much had it been done that way? I'm not sure! If it were being made today, I think that's probably the way they'd do it though.
Recommended?
Yeah, the LOTR series is an absolute classic to me, even with its deficiencies at times, it holds up visually and has great character interactions. Plus the orcs are cool.
