Rating: PG13
Genre:
Fantasy
Release Date: 11/13/2007
Distributor/Studio: New Line Home Video
New Zealand filmmaker
Peter Jackson fulfills his lifelong dream of transforming author
J.R.R. Tolkien's best-selling
fantasy epic into a three-part motion picture that begins with this holiday 2001 release.
Elijah Wood stars as
Frodo Baggins, a Hobbit resident of the medieval "Middle-earth" who discovers that a ring bequeathed to him by beloved relative and benefactor
Bilbo (
Ian Holm) is in fact the "One Ring," a device that will allow its master to manipulate dark powers and enslave the world.
Frodo is charged by the wizard
Gandalf (
Ian McKellen) to return the ring to Mount Doom, the evil site where it was forged millennia ago and the only place where it can be destroyed. Accompanying
Frodo is a fellowship of eight others: his Hobbit friends
Sam (
Sean Astin),
Merry (
Dominic Monaghan), and
Pippin (
Billy Boyd); plus
Gandalf; the human warriors
Aragorn (
Viggo Mortensen) and
Boromir (
Sean Bean); Elf archer
Legolas (
Orlando Bloom); and Dwarf soldier
Gimli (
John Rhys-Davies). The band's odyssey to the dreaded land of Mordor, where Mount Doom lies, takes them through the Elfish domain of Rivendell and the forest of Lothlorien, where they receive aid and comfort from the Elf princess
Arwen (
Liv Tyler), her father,
Elrond (
Hugo Weaving), and
Queen Galadriel (
Cate Blanchett). In pursuit of the travelers and their ring are
Saruman (
Christopher Lee) -- a traitorous wizard and kin, of sorts, to
Gandalf -- and the Dark Riders, under the control of the evil, mysterious
Sauron (
Sala Baker). The Fellowship must also do battle with a troll, flying spies, Orcs, and other deadly obstacles both natural and otherwise as they draw closer to Mordor.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) was filmed in
Jackson's native New Zealand, closely followed by its pair of sequels,
The Two Towers (2002) and
The Return of the King (2003).
~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
;)
