In December 2001, every Lord of the Rings fan made their way to the cinemas to see the first part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy: the Fellowship of the Ring. Based on the book by the legendary J.R.R. Tolkien, the Fellowship of the Ring is the movie that will tell the tale of the Ruling Ring, forged by the Dark Lord Sauron. It finds its way to a Hobbit, Frodo Baggins (played by Elijah Wood), who must now set out to destroy it. On this quest, he is aided by fellow Hobbits, and eventually he acquires an entire fellowship to help him reach Mordor, where the Dark Lord resides, and where the one place is where the Ring can be destroyed. Because Tolkien’s books are filled with fantastical creatures, landscapes and buildings, it has taken nearly 50 years since the trilogy was first published to make it into a movie. The director, Peter Jackson, has used nearly every cinematic trick available to ensure that everything is as lifelike as possible. Not only CGI was used, but also miniatures (or bigatures, as they were referred to by cast and crew). For instance, the stronghold of the wizard Saruman was made in it’s entirety as a nearly 10 foot high miniature. All in all, the impressive cast (including Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen and Sir Ian McKellen) and the high standard of the digital imaging, make sure that the Fellowship is a must see for every Tolkien fan.
Running time: 178 min original version, 208 min special extended edition
