100
The Movie Works. It has real passion, real emotion, real terror, and a tactile sense of evil that is missing in that other current movie dealing with wizards, wonders and wickedness.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
90
New Times (L.A.) by Gregory Weinkauf
The film succeeds as massive, astonishing entertainment; verily, enthralling us is its chief goal.
100
Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern
Against all odds in an era of machine-made spectaculars, Mr. Jackson and his collaborators have created a film epic that lives and breathes.
100
So consistently involving because the excellent cast delivers their lines with the kind of utter conviction not seen in this kind of movie since the first "Star Wars."
70
TV Guide Magazine by Maitland McDonagh
Above all, Jackson evokes an almost palpable sense of the will to power trapped within the ring. Without this evocation of the ring's insidious ability to sniff out the potential for corruption and capitalize on it, the entire enterprise would be precious drivel.
100
Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington
An extraordinary work, grandly conceived, brilliantly executed and wildly entertaining. It's a hobbit's dream, a wizard's delight. And, of course, it's only the beginning.
75
Miami Herald by Rene Rodriguez
Jackson's dazzling vision turns the story into a real movie-movie -- one that, unlike too many fantasy films today, is genuinely transporting.
100
I see it as nearly perfect: It's one of the best fantasy pictures ever made.
63
Philadelphia Inquirer by Steven Rea
But moving across this tableau is Frodo and his gang, and here the trouble lies...Not a one seems believable as conveyed by Wood, who forever looks to be on the brink of a good sob. Likewise, his hobbit sidekick Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) is a real wuss.
91
Seattle Post-Intelligencer by William Arnold
The film's single downside is a certain nagging sense of deja vu: the fact that so many of the elements of the story -- the dark force, the all-empowering object, etc. -- have been usurped over the years (by "Star Wars" and others) that you feel as if you've been down this road many, many times before.
Fellowship kicks off one of the greatest film trilogies of all time, providing a beautiful introduction to Tolkien's world and establishing characters that would go on to become pop-culture icons. Out of all three movies in Peter Jackson's trilogy, Fellowship has the greatest sense of wonder, as the world is still new to the viewer and the Hobbit protagonists, neither of whom have ever been on an adventure such as this. And yet, the movie also establishes that there are real stakes to this quest, as certain main character deaths are arguably more impactful than any that come in the subsequent films. The sequels may be grander in scale, but Fellowship is the cornerstone of the franchise.
I understand that this is a classic, and understand why people love it. But for me the film has a similar pacing issue as the books; for too long I feel as though the characters are not making any progress towards their goals.