Harry Here, it is currently 8 hours and 39 minutes till I see FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING... I'm having trouble thinking straight... my mind is racing and I'm just dying to leave this room and just go camp in front of the theater. I know I'm guaranteed a seat, I know I'm on some list or another, but dang it... I need to see this movie now... Too many reviews I've read... must see movie for myself. Is it a beautiful and unique snowflake? Well, only 8 hours and 36 minutes to go....
It is I, DJ Crystal Pepsi, and I'm slinging it fo real yo.
What a week!
First up I took a journey to middlearth to see The Lord of the Rings.
Peter Jackson, you gorgeous bitch you, let me be the very first in line to bow before you in awe and reverence. This man, this beautiful fucking man has created a piece of cinema that will be known as one of the best fantasy films of all time. Thank Gawd! After seeing that latest Episode One Trailer I was about to slit my wrists, but LOTR came into my life like a salve to heal my wounds.
Lord of the Rings is everything that Harry Potter is not. Great music, great FX, great performances, great script. Peter Jackson imbues each scene with something we don't see very often in movies these days: A soul. Every step we take with Frodo Baggins is an adventure, we can't wait to see how our hero will end up, root for him, feel like we want to be on this journey together. And Viggo Mortensen is a bad ass. But hell, everybody in this film is kick ass. Christopher Lee! Do some more acting dude! I know you can do it Wicker Man!
All the pieces are here. I wish this would be nominated for an Oscar. Virtuoso filmmaking. Thank you Peter Jackson, all the guys at WETA and the actors who brought this thing to life. Go see this movie three times. Make Harry Potter the second most profitable movie this year. We have to tell the world that this is the type of movie we want to see envisioned, financed and brought to life!
Peace out yo,
DJ Crystal Pepsi
Those bastards from Minneapolis! Not only do they come to my party, but they don't take me with them back to Minneapolis for this screening? Well, that's the last time I let Pet Snake Reggie come to my birthday party!!!! This review comes from 433 who saw the film at Barrie Osborne's Minneapolis Benefit Screening. Enjoy...
433 here
Despite having been gypped out of The Fellowship of the Ring at this year's BNaT, I was lucky enough to return home to Minneapolis, where there was a benefit premiere Wednesday night at the beautiful 2,500-seat State Theater.
Citizen Kane wasn't a classic when it was released. It took years and hundreds of film historians to dissect it, directors and writers to make use of Welles‚ innovative technical and storytelling techniques.
It's a Wonderful Life wasn't a classic when it was released. It took years of it being played ad nauseum throughout the holiday season for it to enter the collective American consciousness.
The Fellowship of the Ring is, without hyperbole, an instant classic. It is, quite possibly, one of the best films I have ever seen.
When The Phantom Menace was finally released, people salved their wounds by saying "Well, nothing could live up to that sort of hype."
They were wrong. The Fellowship of the Ring lives up to and beyond the hype even Harry had given it.
Now I'm a big Star Wars fan. Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back are two of my favorite films. I have the Mandalorian Supercommando skull and Imperial Army symbol tattooed on my arms. I have hundreds of Star Wars toys, books, posters, statues, and tapes on my shelves. I'm building a suit of Boba Fett armor in my basement. I have a 17-minute version of TESB on 8mm. I have personalized license plates that say 'FETTCAR'.
Fellowship is better than Star Wars. It's better than Empire. If you go into it with an open mind, you'll see that. Peter Jackson didn't accomplish this by saying 'I want to make a movie that's better than Star Wars.' He just wanted to make a great movie. He didn't bother with what executives thought, or focus groups, or what kind of movie would sell the most toys. He just had a love for the source material and made the best movie he could. Lucas could learn from Jackson.
When I was six years old in May 1980 and I walked out of The Empire Strikes Back having just seen Han kidnapped and Luke devastated, emotionally and physically, and knowing that I'd have to wait three years for the end of the saga, I was going crazy.
When the closing credits of Fellowship rolled, it was worse. Even though I knew what was going to happen next, I needed to see The Two Towers RIGHT THEN!
And that's the way the whole movie is. Even though I know the whole story, I cried. Even though I knew which character dies, I was shocked by it. If you've read the Harry Potter books, you know exactly what is going to happen in the film version and when it will happen - there's no surprise, no life to it. It's a direct adaptation, and it's emotionally empty. It's exactly the opposite of Fellowship.
Yes, things were changed. You see Gandalf & Saruman's meeting in this movie, rather than recounting it later in the saga. Once again, there's no Tom Bombadil to be found. In The Two Towers, you're going to move back and forth between Frodo & Samwise's story and that of the rest of the Fellowship, rather than tell one story then tell the other. These are thing that make a difference, and for the better. I have a friend who loves Tom Bombadil, and she's not going to see the films because he wasn't included. But the guy takes up nearly 100 pages, and has no bearing on the rest of the story. To add him would lengthen the movie with no discernible increase in quality. There's no reason that Gandalf & Saruman's meeting shouldn't have been in Fellowship, and Jackson realizes this.
And that, I think, is the most important point. The Lord of the Rings is an amazing tale, but it‚s not anywhere near my favorite. It's dry, it's full of awful songs, and it's unnecessarily told out of order. Peter Jackson has taken a classic tale of good and evil and made it better. Simply better. It flows smoothly, it moves at its own pace, and it makes people want to sit for six more hours and watch the rest.
I, for one, can't wait.
433
Now, from Finland comes a review from Mr Hat....
Hullo, Harry!
This is my first time writing to you, but I've been religiously following your site for some time now. You can call me Mr. Hat...
I know this will only add to the excruciating pain tormenting your very soul, but I thought what the heck! Its good kind of pain, eh!? 8-)
I WENT TO SEE THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING TODAY!!!
There, now I've said it...
A little background is probably in order: I work part-time at a big bookstore in Helsinki, Finland (please excuse any misspelling and so on...) to earn my livelihood while studying. A coworker came to me in the early afternoon and asked innocently: "When are you off today?" Suspiciously, I said: "3:150, why?" "Well, we got these free tickets from the publisher to a screening of the first Lord of the Rings movie at 3:30. Do you want one?"
For some time I could do nothing but stare at her. Do I want to see the movie everybody (very definetely including myself) has craved for for eons. BLOODY YES I DO!!!
I gathered my wits for a moment, called my brother and told him to come too, and got me two beautiful tickets to the screening.
Life's so strange, don't you think...
I spent the rest of my work day in a euphoric haze, making all my friends there envious (their day didn't end at 3:15 pm, too bad...).
Well, enough about me, let's talk about what I saw:
First and foremost, I've read the book twice in Finnish translation (which is actually really good) and once in English just last summer. So most of the story and its details were (and are) still pretty fresh in my memory.
By now its probably pointless to give any detailed description of the plot, but some scenes are worth mentioning:
The movie begins with the awesome prologue to the forging of the Ring(s), and the battle against Sauron. The epic scale of all this truly comes across, and the Dark Lord couldn't be any more menacing, powerful and evil.
We then move on to the fast-paced start of the great adventure (cutting quite a many corners of the original story). For me the whole movie had a problem similar to the book; the first hour or so (or the first few hundred pages) seem to drag on just little too long, but when the Fellowship leaves Rivendell, the story really kicks in another gear!
And I mean, what a gear!
Up until the Fellowship exits Moria, the pace only gets faster and faster. And then... I would have paid anything to be a person that had not read the book. My previous knowledge of the story notwithstanding, I was moved to tears by the looks on the Fellowships faces. The mixed emotions of anger, frustration, relief and utter terror were totally believable, and Howard Shore's score reached in my opinion its pinnacle right there.
Pausing to catch breath in Lothlorien, the movie then plunges us still in to one final fight with the Uruk-hai of Saruman, and man are those buggers nasty! I had a feeling about this all along, but this final battle proved my thoughts right: Sean Bean as Boromir was definitely the best thing in this movie. I've always liked him, but I had my doubts about him in this movie. But he really nailed the part! The nobility, pride, doubt and greed of the son of the Steward of Gondor were all there. And the scene where he attempts to take the Ring from Frodo, and then repents what he has almost done... My god, this was almost too much.
The whole Fellowship worked like magic, and I think it is not necessary to say that Ian McKellen as Gandalf rocked. Another positive surpise was Elijah Wood, who portrayed the change that begun (and will continue all through the story) in Frodo perfectly.
Finally, Ian Holm as Bilbo gave a heartwarming performance, especially in a scene in Rivendell when he one final time tries to take the Ring, and then weeps in front of Frodo for all the trouble he thinks he has caused.
And I think therein in lies the very difference between this movie and almost any another; the action, effects and magic is there (and comparable to any of the very best), but there is also a heart, a MEANING to all this.
I should say something more about the film as a whole: It seems to me that New Zealand as the location for the film is perfect; the scenery is breathtaking, but at the same time not too fantastic; sweeping, but at the same time believable and beautiful.
And finally, the whole world of Tolkien's imagination is there. Not as I (or you) imagined it, but still, it IS Tolkien's Middle Earth.
That is why this movie touches me (and hopefully many of you) much deeper than any other movie in a long time. It is in no way a perfect film, but it tries its best, and you can't ask for more.
I tried to control myself, so the "review" may seem a bit short and cut but I'm still in a haze...
Yours truly,
Mr. Hat
Here is a review that came from an Academy screening at the DGA last night from the exquisite Elanor...
Hi Harry. Don't hate me because I saw it before you. You will still love it. I saw it last night and have been thinking about it all day. I don't expect you to post it since there have been so many already but I thought you might want to read it yourself. And don't worry - No spoilers. elanor's LOTR review:
I saw The One Movie at the Director’s Guild on W. 57th Street last night as the guest of an Academy member friend (thanks yet again, Michael!). The house was full. I would guestimate that nearly half the folks had read the books but there were few die-hard fans (judging from overheard conversations). Although I saw many in use up until the last minute, NOT A SINGLE CELL PHONE RANG during the movie (Yay!). There were audible gasps from many mouths at several points and I heard sniffling (weeping), clapping in two places and hearty laughter at each appropriate spot. For myself, I sighed, I laughed, I wept (thrice) I squealed and I gasped (too often to count).
I am STILL in a cloud of serenity over it. It is a most unusual movie. Very un-Hollywood, which to me is one of its best attributes. It is quite unlike any movie I have ever seen. It is fearless, risky and mature film-making, and for all its "historical" detail it is firmly and confidently a fantasy. It is now the benchmark against which all other fantasy and adventure movies will be measured. The action is raw and scary and right alongside it is honest emotion, forging a connection with the audience which is as surprising as it is welcome.
I am a die-hard fan of Tolkien; I have read the books at least 25 times. I may be a purist when discussing the books but I never expected a film version to stick to such rules. When I read that Peter Jackson was to be the director I was happy, based on having seen Heavenly Creatures on the advice of a friend (thanks ZI). The same article said he would film it in New Zealand, which made even more sense to me. Then I discovered Harry’s site and read the first 20 Questions (thanks Harry). When PJ said he is not making "The Lord of the Rings", that THAT already exists as a book by JRRT, I felt sure that this was the man for the job. In fact everything I remember from that first interview has been completely borne out in the film I saw last night.
But that’s not to say I knew what to expect. Of course I know the plot but this film has so many wonderful surprises in it: PJ’s take on how best to tell the story; what to emphasize, what to compress, what to extend, what to skip over. I am blown away by his imagination and command of film. He has given us a movie that does what the book does, takes us on a journey, makes us care about each character, makes us feel the terror and the pain and the desperate straights each one is in. Others have commented on how cleverly he makes The Ring itself the full embodiment of Sauron’s evil. Indeed. It may be the key to the success of his whole approach. The ways he has found to adapt Tolkien’s words in this regard is probably my favorite element of all.
The cast is extraordinary. I cannot say enough about them. PJ should get credit for assembling them and each actor and actress should get credit for his or her individual performance. But since they are ALL absolutely honest and compelling (yes Liv, too) it must be because PJ inspired this in each of them. No one steals the film from any of the others but even those with limited screen time resonate clearly and uniquely.
I feel that this film was made for me. I don't have any idea now how it will fare with mainstream audiences because it is not enough LIKE anything that has been measured before. It has a wonderfully foreign-feeling artistry, it seems to be a film made for love of a text and perhaps love of the challenge. As I ponder the choices PJ made, and then how he figured out how to do each one (he had some brilliant help to be sure) I am awed at the immensity of the task and doubly awed at the seeming ease with which he has accomplished it.
Repeat business is going to be big.
Elanor
Now for the Dearmeister, who was at the World Premiere in London.... sigh...
Harry,
I was at the LOTR premiere and party and thought I would let you know all about it (sumg grin).
The Film: Oh my good God. It is absolutely outstanding, the one thing that didn't hold true for both myself and my friend was the part where Galadriel tests her will in having the ring, I just didn't like the effect. All the performances were fantastic. I absolutely loved Pippin, Merry and Gimli. Orlando Bloom is going to be huge.
The Party: Middle Earth was recreated. I imagine it was a bit like the Cannes party. The three stone trolls were there, as was the Prancing Pony etc. All the stars were there, and I got to meet them all (except Cristopher Lee dammit). Billy Boyd was really nice, and Liv Tyler was just absolutely gorgeous, I am hyperventalating just thinking about her.
Overall it was a fantastic night, and I wouldgive the Film 9.5/10 and the party 11/10.
The Dearmeister
Now here's the first of two reviews that I got in from a Houston screening tonight.... and I'd just like to say, I loathe him. Not only did he see it before me, but he ain't even a fan of the source material... curses and crashes!!!
First of all, let me get this out of the way. I enjoyed watching FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. It was beautifully filmed, everything looked gorgeous, and it was a lot of fun.
There, that‚s it. I enjoyed it, it was a lot of fun.
For some people, that‚s almost a negative review, and I don‚t know why that is. For some people, anything less than prostrating yourself before the glory of the One Ring and suckling at the teat of Elrond is considered a trashing of the film.
No way can I trash this film. It was beautiful, it was fun, I enjoyed it.
I don‚t love this film, however. It is not my pick for best film of all time. It is not my pick for best film of this year. It is not even in my top ten (which, for background, so far consists of Memento, Amelie, Monsters Inc, Harry Potter, the Majestic, the Others, Waking Life, Moulin Rouge, Vanilla Sky, and the Man Who Wasn‚t There. I‚ve not yet seen Black Hawk Down, The Royal Tenenbaums, or ALI). This is not an insult to FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, as again, I have to say I enjoyed it. But no, I didn‚t fall in love with it.
I tried to read THE LORD OF THE RINGS when I was around twelve. I guess I was too young, because it never really held my interest. I sleepwalked through the first two books and a few chapters of the third, but to be honest I barely remembered any of it thirteen years later. I remembered some names, some basic plot points, nothing much. And I decided to go into the films as cold as I could, so that I could be surprised.
I believe that decision to be a mistake.
See, THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING was undoubtedly crafted for fans of the book. They‚re going to love this movie. They are going to simply ADORE it. Peter Jackson loves his fans, wants to make them happy, and I have nothing but the highest respect and admiration for him. God bless Peter Jackson. That said, I am not one of the people this film was made for. I don‚t like the fantasy genre, except in kids movies that I can enjoy with my stepdaughter. But those that do love the fantasy genre, they‚re going to be enthralled with THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING.
The first fifteen minutes are simply spectacular. There is so much information presented so concisely and so explosively that I was totally taken in. The lines of elfin soldiers slicing up orcs, well I was impressed. Sauron wielding the ring, again I was impressed. The first fifteen minutes were for me the highlight of the entire film. Whether that‚s a good thing or a bad thing is up to you. I didn‚t mind the climax coming at the beginning of the film (for me), because I know that this is just a setup film for the later two, in which the true climaxes will come.
After the introduction however, we were introduced to the hobbits. This part just made me feel like I didn‚t even belong in the theater. It moved very slowly for my tastes, and the characterization was handled so subtly that as someone who didn‚t remember the books, I felt lost. I knew it all meant something, but all I got out of it was a pleasant surface. The sizing effects were ingenious, but they also looked somewhat unfinished to me. Ian McKellan‚s Gandalf (great performance, by the way) and Ian Holm‚s Bilbo (another great performance, by the way, especially his scene in Rivendell) looked almost as if they had been filmed with different stocks. It was neat to see one shrunk to preserve the size of hobbits in the story, but it also took me out of the film ever so slightly, as it didn‚t quite feel natural to me.
Frodo‚s journey to Rivendell was by far my least favorite section of the film. The Black Riders were impressive, but a little too loud and a little too scary for me to want to take my stepdaughter to see them (she‚s six). Maybe when she‚s older. But this section of the film seemed too long for me, and from what I gather it‚s the section of the book that most fans have a problem with as well.
The film did pick up once all the members of the Fellowship had joined. I was impressed with all of the actors, especially Orlando Bloom as Legolas and Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn. However, although I was impressed by all the actors, I did not necessarily relate to or equate myself with any of them. Some of the characters, such as Gimli the dwarf or the two hobbits that weren‚t Frodo or Sam, seemed almost like stock characters. I never felt like I was one of the Fellowship, I merely felt like I was watching them do things that I could never be a part of. When I watched STAR WARS, I felt like I too was a farm boy dashing off to wild adventures. When I watched HARRY POTTER, I felt like I too was taking classes in a school I had never heard of that was nothing like anything else on earth. Those movies allowed me to put myself inside them, to feel like I was part of them. But although I can relate to Luke Skywalker because he is a farm boy or to Harry Potter because he is a student, I could not relate to a hobbit, a wizard, a king, an elf or a dwarf. I tried, and I just couldn‚t. FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, cool and enjoyable though it was, never seemed to allow me inside, never let me feel like I was part of the action. I felt relegated to the sidelines, a cool impassive observer, and consequently my emotional investment in the story was limited.
I am sure the problems I have relating to the characters would have been resolved had I gone in with a fresh knowledge of the books. Perhaps going into the film with all of the subtexts found in Tolkien‚s words would have given me a richer experience in front of the silver screen. However, the film does have to old up on its own, which it does, but on its own with no knowledge of the book there seemed to be something lacking. The film made me feel like an outsider, and that dampened my enthusiasm for it.
The effects in the film were impressive, but still obviously effects. The armies of Orcs, the cave troll, the Balrog, the Watcher, all of these things were wondrous to behold. At the same time, none of these things ever made me feel afraid or as if I were in danger, because they were so obviously computer generated (a sharp exception to this were the Black Riders, which did in fact send chills through my spine as they were so obviously real). For all the talk of WETA surpassing ILM, I believe such a statement to be premature. They are definitely a force to be reckoned with, and I expect great things from them in the future. Their digital manipulation of the Hobbit‚s faces was seamless. Also, the fact that they did all of this on their own in such a relatively short period of time is astounding. That said, they are not in the same league with ILM in my eyes as of yet.
Basically, the point is this. Peter Jackson made a film that fans of Tolkien‚s books can be proud of. He made a film that will be loved by those who need to love it. He did his job, and he did it well. Not being a fan of the books myself, I felt distanced from it, but no film is made for everybody. Now if only the Tolkien fanatics would stop expecting everybody to love a film that may not have been made for everybody, and instead allow people to merely enjoy it for what it is.
A cool, fun, wonderfully shot film.
Vegas
And now from that we give the final word to Nordling... who was also at the Houston screening tonight. BASTARD!!!!!
Nordling, here.
I was first introduced to LORD OF THE RINGS in junior high, 1981. I have read it every year since then. It's become something of a ritual for me, sort of a personal Bible, if you will. On days I'm feeling blue, I'll turn a page and all my friends are there. Bilbo, Frodo, Gandalf, and my all-time favorite character Samwise Gamgee. I've read THE HOBBIT and THE SILMARILLION as well. Tolkien is just the man. And I can be somewhat a purist about his work.
I am also a film fan. Love everything about movies. When Kane has his heart broken in Xanadu, I'm there. As Vader extends his hand to Luke on that scaffold, I'm there. I've seen many films based on novels that just didn't work, and I've seen films work better than the actual source material, although that's a rare thing. But I can separate the two, because I can recognize them as different. A book will never be translated perfectly to film. And a film can sometimes hit notes that a book did not even think to mention.
I can safely say this. The film LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING does not hit all the notes of the book. It simply isn't possible.
I can also say this: LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING is the BEST FILM IN MANY MANY YEARS. Or to sum up for you film freaks like myself...
It's better than THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. That's probably the highest compliment I can give a film.
The film begins with an introduction into Middle-earth, and frankly I was most concerned with how Peter Jackson was going to pull this off. There's a lot of material there. But I've got to give props to the writing staff. They manage to sum up about a thousand years of history, and they do it in a clear and concise manner. The audience has no difficulty follwing it. The film goes from grand scale battles to emotional intimacy in a heartbeat and you don't feel like it is forced at all.
Moria...to those of us who treasure the books Moria is the SCENE. It's not my personal favorite of the books (that would be Sam vs. Shelob) but it's an important sequence and it is absolutely done note-for-note right. The fight with the Cave Troll...the Fellowship acting in unison in battle...it's awe-inspiring. And the Balrog...Oh. My. God. The moments of the Balrog and Gandalf may be the most intense screen time ever in a film. No, I'm not exaggerating. The Balrog literally is a creation that will live up to my greatest nightmares.
I loved all the performances in the film, but my personal favorite was Sean Bean as Boromir. There's a scene in FELLOWSHIP where he sees the Sword That Is Broken, lying in shards on a table, as Strider (bloody fantastic Viggo Mortenson) watches. The dialogue spoken is flawless, and Sean Bean plays it perfectly, as a man conflicted in his heart, a good man who would do just about anything to save his land. The scenes between Boromir and Strider were my favorite character interactions. Boromir professes what Strider cannot, and there is a bond between them that is very well expressed in the actors' faces.
As for the other actors, Elijah Wood IS Frodo, as close to Frodo as any actor could get. And I am confident that my beloved Sam is in good hands with Sean Astin. Ian McKellen nails Gandalf in every way. Christopher Lee is one of the best villains in a long time.
Legolas is a bad mutha. He deserves his own paragraph. BAAD, man.
Are there flaws in the film? As a film fan, no. As a Tolkien nut, sure. There are a lot of sequences I would have liked to see. Frodo dancing on the table at the Prancing Pony. I would have liked Frodo to have interacted more after the wounding at Weathertop. Arwen is NOT a flaw though. I thought that scene played marvelously. And Liv Tyler does give the best performance of her career. I would have liked Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) not to have been so...well, spooky. But it pays off at the scene of the Mirror, where she is tempted by the Ring.
If you nitpick as a Tolkien fan, well...I have to say you deserve what you get. This is a fine film, and I hope Oscar pays attention. As a Tolkien fan, no film can be perfect enough for a translation.
But as a film fan, I can safely say that LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING is my favorite film of all time. And to those who know me, that's saying something.
Thank you, Peter Jackson.
Nordling, out.
