Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring tells of the events in the first book of Tolkien’s trilogy. It begins with a voice-over narration of the history of Middle-Earth. As per the history, the tyrant Sauron made several magic rings, three of which he gave to the Elves, seven of which he gave to the Dwarves, and nine of which he gave to Men. Then he secretly made a Ring for himself, that would enable him to control the others. His attempt at world domination led to a long and bloody war that ended in Sauron’s defeat at the hands of the king Isildur, who took Sauron’s Ring for himself. Isildur was killed shortly thereafter, and the Ring was lost for millennia, until it was found by a creature called Gollum, who in turn lost the Ring to Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm).
Sixty years later, the now elderly Bilbo leaves the Ring (after some strong persuasion by the wizard Gandalf) in the care of his nephew, Frodo (Elijah Wood). Gandalf (Ian McKellen) has long been suspicious of the Ring’s nature and origins, as he has noticed that it seems to gain some sort of hold over its owners, almost as if it had a life and will of its own. He soon determines that Frodo’s Ring is indeed Sauron’s Ring. Even worse, Sauron himself has learned of the Ring’s current whereabouts--and has dispatched the Ringwraiths or Nazgul to retrieve the Ring for him. Frodo, of course, must leave home to take the Ring somewhere where Sauron and his lackeys can’t get it. At first, he simply hopes to leave the Ring in someone else’s care, but gradually he realizes the grim truth: the Ring has to be destroyed. Even worse, the only way to destroy it is by taking it to Mt. Doom, a volcano in Mordor, the country that happens to be Sauron’s realm.
The Fellowship of the Ring is formed to take the Ring to Mt. Doom and destroy it. In addition to Frodo and Gandalf, the company includes the Elf, Legolas (Orlando Bloom), the Dwarf, Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), the Men, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and Boromir (Sean Bean), and the Hobbits, Sam Gamgee (Sean Astin), Merry Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan), and Pippin Took (Billy Boyd). The Fellowship must face all sorts of dangers, many external, like hordes of Orcs, but some internal, caused by the characters’ flaws. The most notable internal conflict involves Boromir, whose home is being threatened by Sauron’s forces. Boromir therefore wants to use the Ring himself as a weapon of war. His actions help lead to the Fellowship’s dissolution.
The film is mostly faithful to the book. Fans of the character Tom Bombadil will be disappointed to see that he has been completely excised from the movie. Bombadil was an entertaining character, but his contribution to the book’s plot was actually negligible. By contrast, Arwen (Liv Tyler), the betrothed and beloved of Aragorn, is given more to do. She helps a wounded Frodo against the Ringwraiths, and later spends time with Aragorn at Rivendell. (In the book, a male elf, Glorfindel, helped Frodo escape the Ringwraiths). Gandalf’s disastrous confrontation with the corrupt wizard, Saruman (Christopher Lee) is in the book, but is simply told as a flashback during the Council of Elrond. In the movie, Gandalf’s confrontation happens concurrently with the early stages of Frodo’s journey. This change actually improves the story, as it gives a much greater sense of immediacy and urgency to see Gandalf struggle against Saruman and later escape him, than it does to hear him tell a long story about Saruman’s treachery at a meeting.
The cast is excellent. Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood are the two standouts, which is fortunate, since their characters are the most important. McKellen gives Gandalf a wide range of moods: he can be playful, impatient, affectionate, etc. As in the book, McKellen’s Gandalf is a powerful wizard with immense responsibilities, who appreciates some of the smaller things in life, like hobbits and fireworks. Wood’s Frodo is a sheltered and naive young man who is forced to learn some unpleasant truths. He eventually grows from trying to duck responsibility to accepting it.
The other characters are more broadly drawn: Sam, the loyal friend; Pippin and Merry, the pranksters; Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), the mysterious sorceress, and so forth.
The special effects are effective without being overwhelming. Even Sauron’s flaming Eye, which sounds hopelessly hokey on paper, works. Gandalf’s fireworks at the film’s beginning are fun to watch. I also liked how the film portrays the Ring’s distortion of its bearer’s senses: when Frodo puts it on, everything becomes bleached, diaphanous, and blurry. The only things that Frodo can see clearly while wearing the Ring are Sauron or his followers. The settings are also good; the Shire looked the way I’d always thought it would. The ruined kingdom Moria looked suitably creepy; I could not blame Gandalf for wanting to avoid it.
Lord of the Rings is not a film for small children. There are too many battles and too much swordplay. The Orcs and the Ringwraiths are fearsome villains. There is also a long segment set in the ruins of an underground kingdom that might scare youngsters. The film’s length also makes it unsuitable for for children: it’s around three hours long.