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The movie begins with a history-setting bang about the final
battle against the dark lord Sauron, but then moves us into
the peaceful pastoral land of The Shire - home of the halfling
hobbits. The town of Hobbiton is a magical scene where director
Peter Jackson and artists John Howe and Alan Lee have created
a thoroughly believable world.
You meet the key hobbits Frodo (Elijah Wood), Bilbo (Ian
Holm), Sam (Sean Astin), as well as the powerful wizard Gandalf
(Sir Ian McKellen). While life is simple and the biggest thing
the hobbits are thinking about is Bilbo's birthday, darkness
is approaching as the evil Sauron seeks the magical one ring
that Bilbo has in his possession.
The powers of the ring are meant to not only enslave its
possessor, but also control other magical rings from times
long ago.
Gandalf becomes aware that the ring is being sought and asks
Frodo to keep it safe, unwittingly starting him on a mission
that is hideously dangerous and taxing - particularly for
a creature only a little over a metre high.
Hunted by the pretty-damn-scary ringwraiths, Frodo teams
up with other hobbits, elves (Liv Tyler, Hugo Weaving, Cate
Blanchett), a mysterious warrior called Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen),
a dwarf (John Rhys-Davies) and human lord Boromir (Sean Bean).
Frodo journeys through realistic worlds of elves and dwarves
and the party has to fight off armies of orcs and assorted
evil creatures.
Jackson and his production team have built a jaw-dropping
world for the actors to strut their stuff in and the level
of detail he has gone into makes the film utterly convincing.
(Check out the details
page for the terrific extras on how the movie was
made.)
But The Lord of the Rings also works because the actors
have steeped themselves in the culture and history of the
peoples of JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth, and are almost living
the lives of the characters and their races.
The special effects are superb and the scenery of New Zealand's
South Island just has to be seen to be believed. Everything
about the movie is just so right.
And, fortunately, so is the two-disc DVD being offered to
us. The video transfer is excellent and almost gets a perfect
rating. It is sharp, clean and the colours are beautifully
rendered to suit the moods of the various parts of the Middle
Earth. It does, however, have a few visual glitches - a handful
of minor artifacts - but nothing that will spoil your enjoyment
of the movie.
Sound is marvellously handled with the battles scenes noticeably
enlivened by the audio and there are moments when the use
of the surround speakers will have you diving away from the
evil voices coming through them.
While the DVD version of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship
of the Ring does not have the sheer size and majesty of
watching it on a big screen - the benefit is you can do it
in the comfort of your own lounge and as many times as you
want. And the extras package is just massive.
This is a must for Tolkien fans, and in fact anyone
who enjoys good movies.
Note: There is a four-disc special
edition DVD coming out in November that will have an extra
30 minutes of footage - rounding out the characters - and
heaps of new extras. The producers say the SE is different
to the current release, but both are separate entities and
will be enjoyed by fans. They reckon director Jackson is happy
with both - one being a theatrical release the other being
a longer in-the-comfort-of-your-own-home effort. So is it
worth buying one now and then buying the SE later? Well, I
reckon if you are a fan it will be, as the different extras
and new footage take away the tainted air of "let's make
even more money off the fans by only offering them a little
bit more, but do so in a new package".
Pre-order
Lord of the Rings extended edition
Or
pre-order Lord of the Rings Collector's Set
Conclusion: Movie 95%, Extras 90%
Continued:
DVD details at a glance >
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