|
|
||
|
Zone's Eye View of "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring" |
Please Visit Our Sponsors |
|
|
Synopsis of movie: The Dark Lord Sauron seeks to enslave the free peoples of the mythical realm of Middle-earth by recovering a mighty ring of power he forged in the fires beneath Mount Doom. After many generations, the ruling ring, cut from Sauron's hand by the human hero Isildur, has fallen by chance into the keeping of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm). Guided by the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and assisted by companions representing the free races of elves, dwarves, men, and hobbits, Bilbo's heir, Frodo (Elijah Wood), embarks on a perilous quest to destroy the ring before Sauron's minions can recapture it. Now for The Zone's Eye View By Laura Alber I must admit, when I began hearing all the hype about this movie, I was thinking “Star Wars meets Harry Potter” type of a movie. Between all the special effects, and the strange beings, that’s just what it sounded like. Was I ever wrong! I was in total awe from the first minute of the film. As the movie went on, I was trying to think of a word to describe the visuals, the landscapes, and the dramatic lighting…my conclusion: There is NO adjective that is massive enough to describe how wonderful all these things are. Peter Jackson has completely astonished me, and outdone himself. He was ever faithful to the J.R.R. Tolkien first book of the trilogy, and he must have stayed up many a night to choose such a wonderful cast. There wasn’t a bad apple in the bunch. I noticed myself looking up several times to check the time, but it wasn’t because I was wanting the movie to be over, I was hoping there was still much more to come. And, there indeed was. The Fellowship of the Rings doesn’t hesitate for a second of this 178-minute epic. Just a little background for those hesitant, or even confused about all the characters and “tribes” of beings in this film. It is an extremely mystical film, both filled with the most beautiful scenery you’ve ever seen on film, and the darkest evil that will make you shiver. Based in a combination of mystical, medieval and prehistorical world, the story takes us on a journey that is not likely to be forgotten. There are several “tribes” during this time period, the one most extinct being man. There are the “hobbits”, who are joyful small and peppy little people who live in “The Shire”, and all walk about with overly large furry feet. The Elves, live across the river and have magical powers, and are a friend to most everyone. The dark evil forces are called the "Black Riders," or the Nazgul -- nine kings who long ago became enslaved to Sauron and seek the ring that Hobbit “Frodo” now possesses. There are the dwarfs, Orcs, goblins, and the horrifically created army forged by Saruman the White. This may all sound confusing, as it did to me at first, but Jackson does a wonderful job of making sure you know each characters name and what they are. The Lord of the Rings begins with a monologue of how the legend of the rings began, which is a great help with understanding the rest of the film. Also, the dark and graphic battle scenes were very realistic and engrossing. Many, many years later we first see Frodo (Elijah Wood) under a tree in “The Shire”. Frodo is the cousin of Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) who is about to celebrate his “eleventy-first” (111th) birthday. He has retained his age due to the fact that years before, he came across the fateful ring, and it gave him the ability of immortality among many other things. Bilbo finally decides he’s tired and just wants to go live with the elves and finish his book. (For those who know the book, one of the things left out was the singing and reciting poetry of the hobbits) He leaves everything to his cousin Frodo, including the ring. Which he finds difficult to give up to friend and wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen). Once Gandalf sees into the rings true origin, he is quite disturbed and knows that the only thing that can be done is to destroy it, since it has the power to corrupt anyone who dares to wear it. Gandalf tells Frodo the whole story and origin and the possible repercussions if the ring is found, and they agree to make a journey to the elves village to decide how to make it to the dreaded "fires of Mt. Doom, where it was forged," so they can make sure it is destroyed forever. Gandalf recruits Sam (Sean Astin) a fellow hobbit to go with Frodo and keep his eye on him at all times to make sure he’s safe. They barely make it out of the Shire, when they are joined by the unlikely duo of hobbits, Merry Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin Took (Billy Boyd). They are to meet Gandalf at a pub, but he never shows up. At this point, the foursome begins to worry and think about other options to get rid of the ring. They are found luckily by Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), a human "ranger" whom they first call "Strider." Strider keeps his reasons for helping the four hobbits to himself, but shows that he would risk death to save Frodo, now referred to as “The Ring Bearer”. The four encounter the Nazgul almost immediately upon leaving the shire as they are drawn to the ring. Strider, an incredible fighter, manages to ward them off with his sword and fire torches. What they didn’t understand still was, where was Gandalf? It seems he had gone to see his old friend and wizardly colleague Saruman the White (Christopher Lee) who he unfortunately finds out very soon that has already succumbed to the evil Sauron. The two have a “staff battle” that could out-do any “light saber fight” any day! There was so much suspense and interesting effects with this fight, that it must be seen to be believed. The five (now including Strider) finally arrive at their destination after much trouble and turmoil not to mention “extreme” life threatening situations, to the elves quiet and safe village. This is where the beautiful elf Arwen (Liv Tyler) lives and carries many powers. Jackson doesn’t ruin the suspense by throwing in a love story, but it is made obvious that Arwen and Strider are very much in love. She has even given up her immortality for him. Once word gets out that Saruman (Lee) has built his own army and plans to take on the village, the council has a meeting to decide the fate of the ring and the new residents, fearing for their own safety and way of life. Gandalf has finally made it to the village, much to Saruman’s inventive trap, and Bilbo is also now living with the elves. After much talk and sometimes arguing, Frodo stands up and volunteers to take the ring himself to fires of Mt. Doom and destroy it. Everyone in awe, many people start to volunteer to accompany the boy to the destination and keep him safe. This becomes, “The Fellowship of the Rings”. Among these nine brave men, includes: the four hobbits, Gandalf, Aragorn, the ax-wielding dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), the bowman elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and human Boromir (Sean Bean) of Gondor. They begin their journey, which is never easy. Saruman always seems to be one step ahead of them at all times, and provides many obstacles, eventually which includes his new “army”. There are just too many experiences they incur, too many “creatures” they meet on the way, and even betrayals begin to arise. All of this is best left for your viewing eyes, as I can’t possibly tell you how intense this truly is. For being a skeptic about this movie when it was first announced, I find myself upset that I didn’t see it sooner! I will definitely be seeing the 2nd installment right away with no hesitation. As I said before, the cast, direction, production design, cinematography, countless special effects, costumes, makeup and score are just to phenomenal to describe with the right adjective. Please, treat yourself and check this wonderful, brilliant film out, you will NOT be disappointed!!! From start to finish, it’s nonstop action, suspense, horror, beauty, and intrigue. The Zone rates this gem, a very rare 10 out of 10. I saw nothing to complain about at all. Now…to wait for “The Two Towers”! Thankfully, I will be able to “quench” my appetite for more on December 18th of 2002!!! Bravo Peter Jackson!
|
|
|
