The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2001
	Director: Peter Jackson (Bad Taste, The Feebles)
	Actors: Elijah Wood (Maniac, Open Windows), Ian McKellen (X-men), Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Carribean 1-3), Sean Bean (Game of Thrones TV-series), Sean Astin (The Goonies), Viggo Mortensen (A History of Violence)
	Country: USA, NZ
	Genre: Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: 17.01.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Frodo the Hobbit (Wood) is entrusted the Ring of Power that could help its Master Sauron enslave Middle-Earth. He sets on a journey to destroy the Ring helped by his trusted friend Sam (Astin) and Gandalf the Magician (McKellen).
Review: Back in 2001, I knew the director Peter Jackson from his debut Kiwi Horror movies Bad Taste, The Feebles and Braindead. Thus I was surprised that he was given the control of such a huge project that is the adaptation of Tolkien's supposedly non-adaptable masterpiece, although I had never read the books (they were not really known in France at that time). In 2001 I was very impressed by the whole story and couldn't wait to know the ending, so I quickly read the three-part book. So I am neither one of the fans that can criticize the movies for being unfaithful to the book, nor one that doesn't know the book, I am in a situation in between so I was not disappointed by the missing bits (Tom Bombadil etc...).  After recently watching The Battle of the Five Armies, I have been thinking about watching the LOTR trilogy again but I was not too excited by the first movie, partly because as it is the oldest of the now six-part adventure (including The Hobbit), it is the one I have seen the most. But I had to start with it, although I am more looking forward to the battles and heroism of the two next movies. I liked watching it again but it doesn't have the same impact as it did the first times I saw it. I will not spent too much time reviewing such a known movie, but I can say I am still impressed by the story-telling capabilities of Peter Jackson: direct, efficient and every shot being immediately identified as a Fantasy painting (the now famous "PJ shots", like the complex aerial views). Actually I had never watched the three movies in Blu-ray since I bought the collector box-set, but I had noticed that the image quality was not as good as I had expected. I spent time trying to adjust my projector for better contrast, resolution and colors but with limited success only. I can't tell if this image quality is due to the film medium used at the time (vs. digital shooting for The Hobbit), or to the fact that the box-set I own was released without the supervision by the director. In any case, it is far from looking as good as any of The Hobbit blu-rays that I own. I am anyway looking forward to the two next movies in which I will look for details that link them to The Hobbit movies like I did in this one (for example the closing scene of The Battle of the Five Armies is one of the first of The Fellowship of the Ring but shot through another viewpoint, very clever and satisfying for the fans).
Rating: 7 /10