LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring

After watching the extended edition of all three, you actually wish they were rushed. 4 hours each!

The Fellowship though is one of my favorites. It's the beginning of a great adventure. You see how calm a movie can start out and quickly turn to chaos.

 

LOTR: FOTR is perhaps my fav. of the three too. Even in its extended form I think it is not 'forced' or too long. I wish this was the one of the three that got the Oscar for best picture. But I am happy that ROTK got the recognition that it did.

 

i meant it felt rushed because we didnt spend enough time in hobbiton or with frodo and sam on their journey like in the book. i couldve done without some of the other things in the movie if we got more of this, but whatever i still like it alot

 

FOTR was pretty darned good. I also loved TTT. I really can't decide which I like more.

ROTK probably would've been my fave, had The Matrix Revolutions not stolen it's thunder by becoming my favorite movie, or if it had fewer endings. And better endings. They were so fricking cliche'. They could've ended at Minas Tirith...

But yeah, FOTR is pretty good.

 

I like FOTR because it's different. I guess I like all three movies for different reasons, though I tend to turn ROTK off before the Grey Havens because that movie has too many endings. FOTR is a beautiful, vivid, rich and detailed introduction to a world that had never been seen on screen before, and I love it to pieces. It's just such a lovely film to watch - the scenery, the settings, the depth Jackson gives to Middle-Earth. Once the introduction's over and the violence starts, some of that's lost.

 

FOTR is also my favorite of the movies. The introduction of the characters always does it for me. One of my favorite shots was when they were all coming up over the rocks. I believe it was in the trailer. The opening scene of The Last Alliance fighting Sauron, how I wished that scene was a little longer. The look on Frodo's face when he hears Gandalf coming down the road. The last time we really see that kind of smile, that kind of innocence on Frodo's face.

This is the movie where we really get to see Middle-Earth, the Fellowship on their journey. I too would have been pleased to see Tom Bombadil on the big screen.

When the wraiths were up on the hill. Was the witch-king up there. I don't recall him being there in the book. It has been ages since I read the books but I don't remember him being there.

One thing though, out of the 3 movies. My favorite scenes were the Ride of The Rohirrim and the Battle of The Pelennor Fields. Peter Jackson did an outstanding job with that.

I can't wait for the Hobbit. To be able to see the other places of Middle-Earth on the big screen. That would be awesome.

Jag29

 

FOTR is a great movie. Out of the 3 it's the brightest, lightest, and most uplifting. The film beautifully introduced us to all of the main characters who'll be leading us on an amazing journey in the next 2 films ahead.

That being said, I think out of the 3 EE versions that FOTR is the weakest. The only extra added scenes that appealed to me were the growing friendship between Aragon and Boromir. I thought most of the other added scenes just bogged down the story and I was glad that PJ made the decision to cut them from the final film.

 

I also love it the most out of the three. All three are great and I love 'em to death, but I don't know what it was about this one, but I loved it better than the other two.

 

Hmmm...

As usual with these films, I often felt something strange when stuff was actually changed from the way it was in the books-- ie, not deletions, changes. No Bombadil= good. Pippin getting drunk and forgetting that Frodo was supposed to be named Mr. Underhill = BAD.

On the other hand, that was a personal thing and not related to the strength or weakness of the movies themselves. Except when the changes weakened the characters and stretched credulity. I.e. Merry and Pippin's not having much of a reason to follow Sam and Frodo, they just-- do.

For the most part, though, it's an incredible piece of work. Hobbits, dwarves, wizards (Ian McKellen as Gandalf just does spectacularly in this! I prefer the down-to-earth Gandalf the White myself). Oh yeah.

 

My #1: ROTK--I love all 3 films but ROTK is easily my favorite. It's the climax of the series and has a lot of great battles...combine that w/ the emotional impact of the conclusion and it's w/o question the best, in my eyes.

#2: FOTR--Fellowship is close behind because it introduces us to the world and it's characters. I gotta admit, not having read the books it took a while for me to get into the film. It wasn't until maybe my 3rd viewing on DVD (never saw it in the theatres) that I really got into it.

#3: TTT--Still a great movie with an incredible battle in the end accompanyed with some great emotional scenes and fantastic new characters. It's just a few parts were rather boring, the Ents in particular.

 

Fellowship is the best.

Everyone else that has said it is their favorites above me has stated why. It was new and fresh, and out of the three it is absolutely the most gorgeous.

 

I agree, although the Council of Elrond is one of my favorite scenes in the series. The story really picks up from there. Plus, i love the way the EE disc cuts off the first disc:

Elrond: Nine companions...So be it! You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring!
Pippin: Great! Where are we going?

 

Unfortunately for me, the Council of Elrond is exactly where my DVD is scratched so I always have to skip over it or my computer crashes.

I think the telly can handle it well, though, thankfully.

I'd say FOTR is my second favorite. Certainly better than TTT, IMO.

 

This one was near perfection. Almost everything I ever dreamed about as a fan of the book. If I had any complaint (and I really don't, having saved them for TTT) it would be missing out on the Barrow Wights. Is it just me, or were a few of the scenes inspired by Ralph Bakshi's much maligned animated version?

 

Yes, Fellowship is the best, for the lack of set pieces and the character development.

I was actually also really glad that they cut Tom Bombadil - never liked the guy. And Pippin getting drunk and gossiping *was* more realistic than Frodo getting up on a table to sing a longer version of "hey diddle the cat and the fiddle" and then having the Ring fall onto his finger, which is what happened in the book.

I think overall I liked the movie due to its sense of promise. It's the beginning of a long journey, and what a great beginning!

 

FOTR is in my opinion one of the greatest films in history, way better than its followers.

 

About to rewatch it right now...

 

Hmmm, my favorite? I would have to say TT and ROTK. I believe that's where the real adventure began. Peter Jackson made a perfect representation of Minas Trirth. And I'm not afraid to say but I cried when the ring was destoryed.

 

I just personally can't get into the huge, set piece battles, they really get on my nerves and seem a lot more staged than the type of run/slash/run some more action in Fellowship. The smaller, personal moments are more thrilling to me. Though I did love Eowyn kicking that ringwraith's butt. It was my favorite part in the books.

 

Ewoyn kicking his was cool. I also liked the drinking game Legolas and Glimli had. That was just too funny. xD

 

I actually watched Fellowship every day for 3 weeks on DVD when it came out. Talk about crazy.

 

That's madness!

Where do you find the time?

 

One of my favourite, and most meaningful, moments from the trilogy has half a home in Fellowship, and half a home in ROTK. It's so fleeting, too.

Everard Proudfoot. This dude:

[image=http://www.council-of-elrond.com/castdb/mrproudfoot/mrproudfoot2.jpg]

He gives Gandalf a disapproving look, and then smiles at the fireworks until his wife seems to remind him he should still be disapproving.

Then at the end of ROTK when the Hobbits return home he scowls at them too. It's as if he's saying "The Shire ain't no place for such fancy costumes, and Hobbits still aren't creatures of adventure." Even though the Scouring was removed from ROTK, I think it really helps sell the idea that The Shire is that which must be protected at all costs. It remains (in the films at least) untouched by the epic events that grip Middle Earth... and when the heroes return the old place, Proudfoot as a 'representative' indicates he has no idea that The Shire has just been saved from certain doom. But then to me, that's the point; saving / preserving the innocence of the place.

Now to bring this post lumbering back to the point, I think the beginning of Fellowship is absolutely glorious. The opening in The Shire, and the peaceful place that it is is beautifully imagined by Jackson & Co. You really do feel that when the Frodo and Sam go off on their adventure they are leaving something truly special behind, a place worth protecting at all costs. The Hobbits of The Shire don't know or care or want to care about events beyond their borders, and that's what makes Frodo and Sam so special. They take themselves far outside of their comfort zone so that Everard Proudfoot can scowl in ignorant disapproval at Gandalf and any returning adventurers. Bilbo's birthday party, the cottage industries we see during his monologue, it's all so peaceful and worthwhile. The section of Fellowship in the Shire - up until Gandalf discovers the true nature of the Ring - is about as comfortable a time I have ever spent watching a fictional landscape. I felt immediately at home, and didn't want this place spoilt. So when the Ring was identified it came as a genuine shock. Not that I didn't know it was coming, but that the cast and crew of Fellowship had done such a bang up job of presenting The Shire to the audience I simply didn't want anything to happen to it... and the insidious presence of the Ring in this place was truly a horrible thought. Frodo's motivations through the excellent execution of The Shire, are a little better understood. What more can a viewer ask for than that?

 

Oh my gosh. I loved that guy! That one disapproving glare says everything you need to know about the negative side of small-town life. And to show him again at the end of ROTK was perfect. It reminded me so much of coming home to the town where I grew up, and enjoying the beauty of it, but also realizing that the things I hated about it are still there. And you gotta love the curmudgeonly innocence of him. I mean, here are the people who just saved the Shire from destruction, and he has no idea - he just knows that they're dressed way too fancy for the Shire, those showoffs!

 

Small town life may well produce people like that, but it's such innocence that Frodo & Co were out to protect. Frodo loves the Shire, he doesn't dislike the small town life. Better a place like The Shire with the odd Mr. Proudfoot then somewhere under the thumb or Sauron.