If you’ve been amazed by the spectacular special effects in George Lucas’s “Star Wars” series, stumped by the stunningly choreographed action sequences of Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, I really wonder what your reaction would be on watching Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring”. Here’s a movie that takes your breath away right from the very first sequence that starts off by tracing the origin and thereafter takes the viewers on a roller-coaster journey of “The one ring that rules them all”.
Based on an original book written by J.R.R. Tolkien, this movie, along with J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series, heralds a new genre of film making – that of “Fantasy”. Tolkien’s works are all set somewhere in the recesses of the world referred to simply as “The Middle Earth”. The movie commences by explaining the story behind the creation of a series of “rings” which are worn by the leaders of the human races and wise men, all are men above reproach, selfless, noble and brave. These rings give great power and longevity to the persons who wear them. However, unknown to them all, another “Master Ring” is secretly created by The Dark Lord, Sauron, who rules over Mordor. This ring emanates all feelings evil and bestows its owner with the power to conquer and rule over the entire Middle Earth. Armed with this “high-potency” ring and its evil powers, Sauron sets out on a conquering spree and spreads his reign of terror everywhere. Just when it seems that all has been lost, fate intervenes and Sauron’s finger which adorns the fateful ring is cut off during a battle. Thence begins its journey from one hand to another until it finally lands in the hands of Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), a hobbit, more than 2500 years after it was first created.
At around the same time, Sauron is in the process of resurrecting himself and sends out his armies in search of the ring which will give him the power to fulfill his dreams of ruling the Middle Earth. Having tracked it down to Froddo, Sauron’s armies are in a desperate search to catch him and retain the ring. From here begins a cat and mouse game and Froddo is aided in his escapades by 3 other hobbits and also by Gandalf (Ian MacKellen), one of the five wizards sent by the Gods to fight Sauron. To cut a long story short, a meeting of the leaders of all human races is called for and when they discover that the evil ring cannot be destroyed, they come to the common conclusion that it must be destroyed by throwing it back into the volcanic mountain in Mordor from whence it was created. When no one volunteers to do the job, Froddo does and the journey to Mordor begins with Froddo being accompanied by his 3 hobbit friends, Gandalf and 3 heroic warriors...all together forming the “Fellowship of the Ring”.
What follows next are some of the most stunningly choreographed action sequences ever captured on the big screen. The viewer is swept of his/her feet by virtually every scene that unfolds masterfully on the screen...be it the amazing computer generated graphics in the opening battle sequences or the flurry of fireworks let loose by Gandalf or that amazing shot where Gandalf, when held as a prisoner atop a very tall tower, just hurtles down with the camera following him at a dizzying speed and he is all of a sudden scooped up by a gigantic eagle to safety.
The director, Peter Jackson (The Frighteners), does a great job of translating Tolkien’s cult classic into celluloid form. The sets and characters seem to have been ripped off right out of the original book and I daresay even Mr. Tolkien himself would not have expected such a visually appealing spectacle when he wrote the book. The dialogues and the background voiceover are so clear and simple that even a kid can understand them easily.
Of the main cast, Elijah Wood carries the burden of great expectations admirably. Acting as a normal “hobbit” (humans of around 4 feet in height), he exhibits an amazing array of emotions without any trace of over-action. He’s also very photogenic and has that comic-book-childlike look about him which was very essential for a role such as his. Liv Tyler, daughter of Steven Tyler (of Aerosmith fame), makes a cameo appearance as an elf and transports Froddo to safety from Sauron’s armies. Cate Blanchett (of Shekhar kapoor’s Elizabeth” fame) as Galadriel, the Princess of the woods puts in another well-etched cameo and makes her presence felt in a brief 5 minute sequence.
The movie is the first part of a trilogy and the estimated budget of the trilogy has been pegged at around 290 million USD....which translates into (hold your breath) around Rs. 1300-1400 crores! All the three movies have already been shot in some of the most beautiful locales in New Zealand but will be released with an year’s gap between each of them. “The Two Towers” and “The Return of the King” are the other 2 sequels and will carry the story forward from where it ends in the first part. Most people who had watched the movie complained that it ended rather abruptly. That’s probably because its been a long, long time since we even got to see a series of 3 movies.
Go head and watch this movie...you’ll have no grounds to complain, except of course, that it was a tad too long. One might be tempted to conclude that it was too much ado about one small ring but I feel its about more than just a ring - It’s all about man’s crazy fetish for power, strength and authority on one hand and about selflessness, courage, strength in the face of adversity and hope on the other.