...the film boasts memorable appearances by actors who aren’t overwhelmed by the production or simply lost in the crowd.
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(Feng wrote the primary review and assessed the DVD set´s technical aspects. Puccio´s remarks appear after Feng´s Entertainment Value paragraph.)
Corporate siblings Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema dominated the box office during late-2001 with "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer´s Stone" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring". Each film grossed more than $300 million domestically, and the popularity of each film spiked the sales of their respective source novels. I thought that both movies were among the 10 best films of 2001, though only the adult-skewing (and nearly R-rated) "LOTR 1" wound up as a major contender for year-end awards. The most-nominated film of its year (with 13 nominations), "LOTR 1" won 4 Oscars (Cinematography, Makeup, Score, Visual Effects), tying Best-Picture-winner "A Beautiful Mind" in terms of number of statuettes taken home.
Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien must´ve breathed a collective sigh of relief when Peter Jackson´s "LOTR 1" thundered across movie screens world-wide. Previous stabs at adapting Tolkien´s novels yielded piddling results (most visible being the animated versions of "The Hobbit" and "LOTR"). Jackson directed "Heavenly Creatures", a movie that included scenes from two young girls´ make-believe dream world, and his obvious familiarity with the fantasy genre translated into a respectful, lavish, gorgeously-mounted production that breathed fresh cinematic life into Middle-Earth.
In the movie, Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) inherits a gold ring from Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm), a distant relative and a most unusual Hobbit who once went on a grand adventure. The young hero discovers that his ring is the One Ring that belonged to the Dark Lord Sauron, and Frodo must travel deep into the heart of Mordor in order to destroy the ring in the fires of Mount Doom. Otherwise, a resurrected Sauron will re-claim his ring, bind the other 9 subservient rings to his will, and cast a pall over the lands of Middle-Earth.
Frodo collects a band of companions to aid him in his quest: Gandalf (Ian McKellen), a powerful wizard; Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), the heir to the throne of Gondor; Boromir (Sean Bean), a warrior from Gondor; Gimli the dwarf (John Rys-Davies); Legolas the elf (Orlando Bloom, who won an MTV Movie Award in the category of Breakthrough Male Performance); Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin); Peregrin "Pippin" Took (Billy Boyd); and Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan). Together, these 9 adventurers form the Fellowship of the Ring, pledging to destroy the One Ring at all costs. The Fellowship must brave the perils introduced by the Nazgul (Sauron´s 9 Ringwraiths), various Orcs, cave trolls, goblins, and Saruman (Christopher Lee). Once Gandalf´s mentor and friend, Saruman has now allied himself with Sauron upon learning that the Dark Lord is regaining his powers.
The movie´s easy-going first hour quickly turns into a powerful, exciting, violent, and heart-rending 2-hour journey of derring-do and death. Make no mistake--"LOTR 1" isn´t just a coming-of-age fable. Rather, it is a mature adventure epic that involves a real sense of dread and loss on the part of the heroes. Sauron doesn´t just want to rule the world; he wants to enslave it. Also, 9 heroes, no matter how brave they may be, simply can not expect to fend off hordes of monsters without suffering their own losses.
Despite being populated with numerous faces, the film boasts memorable appearances by actors who aren´t overwhelmed by the production or simply lost in the crowd. McKellen received an Oscar nomination for playing Gandalf with equal parts sly humor and sagacity. Bean, so good as Alec Trevelyan in "Goldeneye", convincingly inhabits the skin of the uncertain Boromir. Tolkien´s elves are the "beautiful creatures" of his mythical world, and everyone who plays an elf in the movie--including Cate Blanchett as the Elf Queen--looks ethereally seductive.
While the massive battle scenes were created largely within the realm of computers, "LOTR 1" compares favorably to grounded-in-reality epics such as "Spartacus" and "Braveheart". The production design looks stupendous--New Zealand´s otherworldly beauty most approximates the lush vistas of Tolkien´s Middle-Earth. Prior to the film´s release, word that Arwen´s role had been greatly expanded from her presence in the novel elicited some concerns from fans, but Liv Tyler (in her best performance) does a great job of portraying a powerful elf princess. Also, it was refreshing to see a movie that took the word "epic" seriously. Sure, we´ve had "big" movies recently such as "Titanic" and "Gladiator", but "LOTR 1" is simply so massive that it dwarfs most movies in terms of sheer production size.
Jackson´s "LOTR 1" looks great, sounds great, and feels great, but I don´t think that it´s quite a definitive cinematic version of Tolkien´s "LOTR 1". Usually, I´m not the type of person who likes to compare a movie to a book since they belong to two very different mediums, but I have to make an exception for this film. The screenplay covers a lot of ground, but the entire trilogy could´ve been planned differently for greater effect.
J.R.R. Tolkien created "The Lord of the Rings" as one big novel, but his publisher broke up the epic into 3 parts, much to his chagrin. Therefore, most readers think of "LOTR" as a trilogy, and Peter Jackson chose to film "LOTR" as a trilogy, too. Most of my concerns about Jackson´s "LOTR 1" arise from the fact that there is simply too much material in Tolkien´s writings to be effective as 3 3-hour (or even 3.5 hour) movies. I have no problems with Jackson dropping peripheral characters or expanding action sequences at the expense of characters studying ancient Elvish texts (which would make for cinematically boring moments anyway), but Jackson´s "LOTR 1" does not fully explore the rich mythology of Tolkien´s vision. Thus, even at 3-hours, "LOTR 1" feels a bit rushed.
If I had my druthers, I would´ve preferred 3 6-hour movies or 6 3-hour movies. Yes, that´s right, instead of Jackson´s planned trilogy (running between 9 and 11 hours), I would like an 18-hour series. If you refer to Tolkien´s "LOTR", you will find that the author divided his narrative into 6 parts. One could adapt each part into a 3-hour movie, or one could combine 2 parts at a time (as Tolkien´s publisher did) and create 6-hour films. Granted, 6-hour enterprises would be a tough sell to moviegoers, but 6 3-hour movies seems feasible. After all, there will be 6 "Star Wars" flicks, 7 (planned) "Harry Potter" books and movies, and as many incarnations of "Star Trek" as is profitable for Paramount to produce. I want MORE "LOTR", not because I´m an insatiable fan but because a fuller, richer adaptation is needed to do the novel complete justice. Perhaps there´ll be an ultra-deluxe super director´s cut after "LOTR 3" has been released on DVD? :-)
As with many other high-profile movies, "LOTR 1" arrives on DVD in multiple versions. On August 6, 2002, the theatrical version of the film appears in stores as a 2-disc set available in either widescreen or Pan&Scan flavors. On November 12, 2002, a 4-disc Special Extended Edition (featuring an additional 30 minutes of footage and widescreen only) and a box set (housing the 4-disc release and specially-created "bookends") will join the 2-disc release on the market. The 2-disc and 4-disc releases contain different bonus materials, so you´ll need to buy both to get all the extras. (Also, buying both releases is the only way to get the theatrical cut and the extended version since it doesn´t look like the 4-disc set will offer seamless branching that allows you to watch the theatrical version.)
Video:
New Line consistently delivers the best video transfers in the business, and the "LOTR 1" 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation ranks as one of the company´s best. The smooth image exhibits little grain, and I didn´t see any scratches. Despite the fact that many scenes are set at night or in darkly-lit areas, the compression doesn´t falter. Images appear to have real depth, and you can see many visual details that you probably didn´t notice when you saw the film in theatres.
As mentioned previously, New Line is also releasing a Pan&Scan version of "LOTR 1". Since the Pan&Scan process destroys filmmakers´ cinematographic compositions, I recommend that you avoid the Pan&Scan version at all costs. With a movie as wide as "LOTR 1", you lose at least 50% of the original picture, a loss unacceptable to anyone serious about films.
Audio:
For me, "LOTR 1" was the loudest movie experience since "Armageddon". The same sequences that threatened to shatter my ears in the theatre have been well-reproduced on DVD. The Dolby Digital 5.1 EX English track features a nearly continuous bass presence. Clashing swords, festive music, environmental ambient sounds, explosions, and echoes flood the room. Howard Shore´s orchestral score benefits greatly from the mix´s smooth imaging across the speakers. While the sound design isn´t as innovative as the ones for "Saving Private Ryan", "Titanic", "Pearl Harbor", or "Toy Story 2", the DVD will be one of your favorite audio demos.
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[release]10084[/release]