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Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The
New Line Cinema

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The reviews


8.4

based on 34 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 413 votes
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FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for epic battle sequences and some scary images

Starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, and Ian Holm

An epic adventure of good against evil, a story of the power of friendship and individual courage, and the heroic quest to pave the way for the emergence of mankind, J.R.R. Tolkien's master work brought to cinematic life. (New Line Cinema)

GENRE(S):	Fantasy
WRITTEN BY:	Frances Walsh Philippa Boyens Peter Jackson J.R.R. Tolkien (novel The Fellowship of the Ring)
DIRECTED BY:	Peter Jackson
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: August 6, 2002 Video: August 6, 2002 Theatrical: December 19, 2001
RUNNING TIME:	178 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	New Zealand / USA

Received a year-high 13 Oscar nominations in 2002, including Best Picture and Best Director. The film's four Golden Globe nominations include Best Picture (Drama) and Best Director (Jackson). Other awards include Best Supporting Actress (Blanchett), Filmmaking Special Event, Best Production Design, 2001 National Board of Review

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

I see it as nearly perfect: It's one of the best fantasy pictures ever made.

100

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

An extraordinary work, grandly conceived, brilliantly executed and wildly entertaining. It's a hobbit's dream, a wizard's delight. And, of course, it's only the beginning.

100

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Against all odds in an era of machine-made spectaculars, Mr. Jackson and his collaborators have created a film epic that lives and breathes.

100

Newsweek David Ansen

The Movie Works. It has real passion, real emotion, real terror, and a tactile sense of evil that is missing in that other current movie dealing with wizards, wonders and wickedness.

100

New York Post Lou Lumenick

So consistently involving because the excellent cast delivers their lines with the kind of utter conviction not seen in this kind of movie since the first "Star Wars."

100

Slate David Edelstein

Fashioned by a buff, The Lord of the Rings is a banquet for the buff in us all. I left exhausted, happy, intoxicated.

100

LA Weekly Manohla Dargis

The film is a virtuosic triumph, but parlor tricks don't make movies, and it's Jackson's unwavering sincerity that elevates The Fellowship of the Ring into the increasingly rare Valhalla of the rousing, well-told tale.

100

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Made with intelligence, imagination, passion and skill, propulsively paced and shot through with an aged-in-oak sense of wonder, the trilogy's first film so thrillingly catches us up in its sweeping story that nothing matters but the vivid and compelling events unfolding on the screen.

100

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Jackson surpasses the expectations anyone might have had for him with The Fellowship of the Ring, the first installment of his trilogy devoted to J.R.R. Tolkien's masterwork.

100

Time Richard Corliss

Though faithful in every detail to Tolkien, it has a vigorous life of its own -- grandeur, moral heft and emotional depth.

100

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

A movie masterpiece -- thrilling, passionate and wise.

100

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Gets it right. It's a wonderful movie. Watching it, one can't help but get the impression that everyone involved was steeped in Tolkien's work, loved the book, treasured it and took care not to break a cherished thing in it.

100

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Vibrantly, intricately alive on its own terms. This is what magic the movies can conjure with an inspired fellowship in charge, and unlimited pots of gold.

100

Washington Post Rita Kempley

With its spectacular scenery, stupefying effects and epic scope, is a dream come true.

100

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Fellowship is the real deal, a movie epic that pops your eyes out, piles on thrills and fun, and yet stays intimately attuned to character.

100

Washington Post Desson Thomson

You believe in everything.

100

Boston Globe Jay Carr

Not since the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy has film dipped into myth and emerged with the kind of weight and heft seen in Peter Jackson's first installment of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

The film's single downside is a certain nagging sense of deja vu: the fact that so many of the elements of the story -- the dark force, the all-empowering object, etc. -- have been usurped over the years (by "Star Wars" and others) that you feel as if you've been down this road many, many times before.

The New Yorker David Denby

Consistently beautiful and often exciting -- despite some dead passages here and there, it's surely the best big-budget fantasy movie in years. [24 & 31 Dec 2001, p. 126]

The New York Times A.O. Scott

The playful spookiness of Mr. Jackson's direction provides a lively, light touch, a gesture that doesn't normally come to mind when Tolkien's name is mentioned.

New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf

The film succeeds as massive, astonishing entertainment; verily, enthralling us is its chief goal.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Looks to please the book's legions of fans with its imaginatively scrupulous rendering of the tome's characters and worlds on the screen, as well as the uninitiated with its uninterrupted flow of incident and spectacle.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

This is high fantasy of the best kind.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

For Hobbitués and adventure fans of all other ages, it's the year's best thrill ride -- maybe the best film.

Film Threat Ron Wells

Probably the best comment I could give it is that after sitting through the first two and 1/2 hours, I would have happily sat through another five. How long am I going to have to wait for that DVD Box Set?

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

Smashing for much of the way; as a piece of fantasy moviemaking, franchise-style, it beats the bejesus out of "Harry Potter."

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Jackson's adaptation is certainly successful on its own terms.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Rings has moments of edge-of-the-seat excitement, too, such as when the dark riders come looking for Frodo. But it's occasionally tedious when it should be captivating.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

That it transcends this genre -- that it is a well-crafted and sometimes stirring adventure -- is to its credit. But a true visualization of Tolkien's Middle-earth it is not.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Jackson's dazzling vision turns the story into a real movie-movie -- one that, unlike too many fantasy films today, is genuinely transporting.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Above all, Jackson evokes an almost palpable sense of the will to power trapped within the ring. Without this evocation of the ring's insidious ability to sniff out the potential for corruption and capitalize on it, the entire enterprise would be precious drivel.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

But moving across this tableau is Frodo and his gang, and here the trouble lies...Not a one seems believable as conveyed by Wood, who forever looks to be on the brink of a good sob. Likewise, his hobbit sidekick Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) is a real wuss.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Far from the movie of the year, the first installment of the long-awaited Lord of the Rings trilogy is an all-around disappointment.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

It's full of scenic splendors with a fine sense of scale, but its narrative thrust seems relatively pro forma, and I was bored by the battle scenes.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 413 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Eric R gave it a6:
It suffers from meandering moments that lag the story, choppy editing, and underdeveloped characters. But it somehow managed to hold my attention thanks to the amazing enthralling world Jackson has realized for the big screen and the flawless cast.

Christopher E gave it a5:
One of the more over-rated films of the 21st century that owes it's success more to nostalgia than to taste.

Dude P gave it a10:
Prolly the greatest movie of alltime. The fellowship was the best of all three lord of the rings movies.

[Anonymous] gave it a6:
This film had a hard job to condense the book into a coherent movie which would be popular - and perhaps inevitably, only partially succeeds. Jackson found it hard to maintain focus and instead creates a rambling story which people who have not read the book might find hard to follow. Attempts to oversimplify good and evil imagery, and thereby produces overly sentimental scenes which are unnecessary and annoying. The sequel is better.

Adnan A. gave it a10:
When I watched the lord of the rings for the first time I was either 9 or 10 and I didn't understand a single thing about this movie. I was like why the hell is everybody jumping for this ring. Now many years later the lord of the rings trilogy remains my favorite! Story... If you get the plot then it's a story that's gonna captivate you even after the end of the movie. Kudos to J.R.R.Tolkien for creating such a world and Peter Jackson for filling this world with life. Acting... Every character is special and all the credit goes to the actors. Each and every actor, has carried out their roles with dedication and devotion. No complains. Direction... I'd only say that no other person in this universe could have made lord of the rings other than Peter Jackson. Visuals... The fighting scenes are exhilarating! Visuals are one of the strongest points of this movie. It's not easy for a 3 hour movie to keep you entertained for long but this movie makes you beg for more! These movies are made once in a decade and to not see them is the biggest mistake of your life.

Jared C. gave it a10:
Peter Jackson awakens us into this breathtaking astonishing trilogy The Lord of the Rings. Jackson views a unique conception of fantasy and engages us with plenty of detail. After that crap animated Lord of the Rings came out, I could never get the horrific sensation of bad elements in the film out of my head. But in The Fellowship, Jackson amazes our pupils and widens our hearts into his beautiful imagination that will be cherished for generations. The soudtrack will raise your heart strings as every scene has its own heartwarming beat or song that brings each a favorable rhythm each time a new place in the story is discovered to develop more build-up in the plot and setting. The Shire, Rivendell, Lothlorien, Moria, and Amon-Hen each have their own soundtrack so when you think of that one place, you think of the music Howard Shore uses in that setting. The character development is tremendous and each and every image in this film is absolutely beautiful. Jackson succeeds in this brilliant and amazing picture and will now be defined as a master movie-maker. The Fellowship of the Ring is highly recommended and magnificent.

Nigg A gave it a0:
It sucked my left nut on the right side bullshit it sucked both the balls freestyle that shit and eat it.

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The New Line Cinema

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The
New Line Cinema