A meek Hobbit from the Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to destroy the powerful One Ring and save Middle-earth from the Dark Lord Sauron.
It's been 15 years since the Lord of the Rings trilogy ended, but we still can't get enough. Let's look at the stars who missed out on adventures in Middle-earth.
An ancient Ring thought lost for centuries has been found, and through a strange twist of fate has been given to a small Hobbit named Frodo. When Gandalf discovers the Ring is in fact the One Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron, Frodo must make an epic quest to the Cracks of Doom in order to destroy it. However, he does not go alone. He is joined by Gandalf, Legolas the elf, Gimli the Dwarf, Aragorn, Boromir, and his three Hobbit friends Merry, Pippin, and Samwise. Through mountains, snow, darkness, forests, rivers and plains, facing evil and danger at every corner the Fellowship of the Ring must go. Their quest to destroy the One Ring is the only hope for the end of the Dark Lords reign.Written by
Paul Twomey <toomsp@hotmail.com>
The overall budget for the trilogy was $300 million, plus another $200 million for publicity and marketing. See more »
Goofs
When Boromir is sharing his fears about the coming war with Aragorn, he actor Sean Bean lapses into his natural Yorkshire accent. The rest of the time he speaks with a neutral English accent. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Galadriel:
The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it. It began with the forging of the Great Rings. Three were given to the Elves, immortal, wisest and fairest of all beings. Seven to the Dwarf lords, great miners and craftsmen of the mountain halls. And nine, nine rings were gifted to the race of Men, who, above all else, desire power. But they were, all of them, deceived, for ...
See more »
Crazy Credits
Toward the end of the credits, there are some lines in Maori, thanking the people of New Zealand, where the movie was filmed.: He mihi nui hoki ki nga tangata whenua o Aotearoa. Ma rangi raua ko papa tatou e manaaki, e tiaki hei nga tau e tu mai nei. See more »
Alternate Versions
The Extended Edition DVD includes the following changes to the film.
During the prologue, more is shown of the ambush and death of Isildur, emphasizing his betrayal by the Ring.
After the prologue, we open with a close-up of the Middle Earth map and pan to hear Bilbo writing his book, starting with a description of hobbits. Much of the Gandalf-Frodo dialog in their first scene together is removed, including the subtitle "60 Years Later".
When Gandalf and Bilbo are in Bag End, Bilbo notes that the people knocking on his door are the Sackville-Bagginses.
During the party, Bilbo greets a guest, then hides from the S.B's with Frodo. He tells Frodo how much the latter means to him.
After the Ringwraiths set out, the Hobbits (prominently Merry and Pippin) are shown dancing and singing in the Green Dragon Inn. References are made to troubles in the outside world and Frodo encourages Sam to pursue a relationship with Rosie Cotton.
After Frodo and Sam set out, they hear singing and find the woodelves leaving for the Gray Havens.
After the company leaves Bree, they pass through the Midgewater Marshes. Later, Aragorn brings a killed deer to the hobbits. Frodo wakes up late at night to hear Aragorn singing about Beren and Luthien.
The stone trolls from "The Hobbit" are shown.
Additional dialog between Aragon and Boromir during the "still sharp" scene with Narsil.
In the Council of Elrond, Boromir mentions his dream and reaches for the Ring. Gandalf recites the poem "One Ring to rule them all.." in black speech, causing the ground to shake and sun to go dark and provoking Elrond.
After the Council of Elrond, Aragorn visits his mother's grave and remembers Elrond telling him of his destiny. This is followed by another scene in which the company are sent off by Elrond and the elves.
Gandalf stops Frodo as they approach Moria to warn him about the Ring's power growing.
In the mines, Gandalf mentions mithril and lights up an old mithril mine. He notes the value of Bilbo's mithril shirt.
Additional fight scenes during the battle in the Chamber of the Marzabul.
Lothlorien is completely revised. The company are first on Haldir's left with the Elves distrusting Gimli and leery of Frodo.
Scene of the elves and the company approaching Caras Galadhon.
More dialog when Celeborn and Galadriel meet the company.
Sam recites a poem verse about Gandalf.
Galadriel acknowledges her possession of one of the elf-rings.
As the Fellowship leaves, Galadriel gives them each a personalized gift that will end up being critical to their future. Legolas gets a special bow, Sam gets some elven rope that comes in handy when he & Frodo make their way through the Emyn Muil, Frodo receives the Phial of Galadriel, and a touching moment occurs between Gimli and Galadriel.
Celeborn gives Aragorn a knife before they leave and warns them they are being tracked by something.
Boromir spots Gollum following the boats. Sam tries to get Frodo to eat or sleep. An exchange between Aragorn and Boromir about going to Minas Tirith before setting off for Mordor.
Extra action in the final battle.
An important extra line of dialog in Boromir's final scene.
10-15 minutes of fan club credits during the final credits.
'The Lord of the Rings' is one of my favorite books, I have read it several times, and remember thinking the last time, about 3 years ago that if I made a film I'd want to make it of this, but wouldn't it be almost impossible. You can then imagine how strong my expectations were when I went to see the eagerly awaited first installment.
This film impressed me hugely, more than anything else because of how true it was to my imagination, both in the characters as well as in the effects and setting- a sentiment I have heard consistently from other fans of the books. Elijah Wood brought across the character of Frodo with the kind of haunted, frail courage that Tolkien captures so well in the books. Nor could I find any fault at all with Ian McKellan's Gandalf, Viggo Mortensen's Aragorn, and Sean Bean's Boromir, all of whom I thought were portrayed excellently. I could pick out instances where I did think, 'no, that's not right', however their seldomness in number would only serve to illustrate the excellence of the overall portrayal. One thing that did stand out for me was Cate Blanchett's performance as Galadriel, the part itself became so perfunctory in the film that to me her alternation between benevolent seer, and figure of potential terror seemed little more than a slightly confusing detour with no real connection into the plot other than as a vehicle for a glimpse into the future. But that was it.
I thought that the points where Jackson did deviate from the text were completely the correct ones to do so. Shortening the opening Shire scenes and cutting out the whole Tom Bombadil bit was great since frankly they bored me slightly in the book anyway. Also, expanding the role of Arwen was a sensible decision.
However this film is by no means above criticism. The dialogue was in my opinion terrible and purely there to drive on the plot. Normally this would ruin a film for me (as in "The Matrix"), making it almost intolerable to view, however fortunately here it proves little more than a minor irritation. Also, the film seemed overall to be excessively plot-driven and at times a mad dash from one action scene to another, the characters, for all their truth to the book did seem flat and sometimes little more than stereotypical fantasy characters. This is perhaps my major quarrel with the film- I would have liked these characters to have come alive as people in a way that was made impossible by the sparseness of the script and the rollercoaster nature of the plot. In general the whole film lacked the depth of context that I think distinguishes Tolkien from other fantasy writers. However to have achieved this would have required a very different movie, and you can't fault an action film for being an action film.
This movie is undoubtedly not for everyone. A lot of people just don't get fantasy- other than Lord of the Rings, I don't particularly either. However in my opinion Jackson really has made an incredible achievement- his and Tolkien's vision carried through suberbly by a breathtaking setting and stunning special effects, as well as by a cast clearly as enthralled as he was. He has taken on a huge task, and is dealing with it with breathtaking success.
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'The Lord of the Rings' is one of my favorite books, I have read it several times, and remember thinking the last time, about 3 years ago that if I made a film I'd want to make it of this, but wouldn't it be almost impossible. You can then imagine how strong my expectations were when I went to see the eagerly awaited first installment.
This film impressed me hugely, more than anything else because of how true it was to my imagination, both in the characters as well as in the effects and setting- a sentiment I have heard consistently from other fans of the books. Elijah Wood brought across the character of Frodo with the kind of haunted, frail courage that Tolkien captures so well in the books. Nor could I find any fault at all with Ian McKellan's Gandalf, Viggo Mortensen's Aragorn, and Sean Bean's Boromir, all of whom I thought were portrayed excellently. I could pick out instances where I did think, 'no, that's not right', however their seldomness in number would only serve to illustrate the excellence of the overall portrayal. One thing that did stand out for me was Cate Blanchett's performance as Galadriel, the part itself became so perfunctory in the film that to me her alternation between benevolent seer, and figure of potential terror seemed little more than a slightly confusing detour with no real connection into the plot other than as a vehicle for a glimpse into the future. But that was it.
I thought that the points where Jackson did deviate from the text were completely the correct ones to do so. Shortening the opening Shire scenes and cutting out the whole Tom Bombadil bit was great since frankly they bored me slightly in the book anyway. Also, expanding the role of Arwen was a sensible decision.
However this film is by no means above criticism. The dialogue was in my opinion terrible and purely there to drive on the plot. Normally this would ruin a film for me (as in "The Matrix"), making it almost intolerable to view, however fortunately here it proves little more than a minor irritation. Also, the film seemed overall to be excessively plot-driven and at times a mad dash from one action scene to another, the characters, for all their truth to the book did seem flat and sometimes little more than stereotypical fantasy characters. This is perhaps my major quarrel with the film- I would have liked these characters to have come alive as people in a way that was made impossible by the sparseness of the script and the rollercoaster nature of the plot. In general the whole film lacked the depth of context that I think distinguishes Tolkien from other fantasy writers. However to have achieved this would have required a very different movie, and you can't fault an action film for being an action film.
This movie is undoubtedly not for everyone. A lot of people just don't get fantasy- other than Lord of the Rings, I don't particularly either. However in my opinion Jackson really has made an incredible achievement- his and Tolkien's vision carried through suberbly by a breathtaking setting and stunning special effects, as well as by a cast clearly as enthralled as he was. He has taken on a huge task, and is dealing with it with breathtaking success.