"The Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring"

Title: "The Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring"
Director: Peter Jackson
Producer: F. Walsh, B. M. Osborne, and P. Jackson
Editing: John Gilbert
Composer: Howard Shore
Starring:
- Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins
- Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf the White
- Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee
- Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn
- Liv Tyler as Arwen
- Andy Serkis as the voice of Gollum/Smeagol
- Hugo Weaving as Elrond
- Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
- John Rhys-Davies as Gimli
- Billy Boyd as Peregrin Took
- Dominic Monaghan as Meriadoc Brandybuck
- Orlando Bloom as Legolas

Plot and Critical Review: The foreword tells the story of the Dark Lord Sauron forging the One Ring in order to conquer the lands of Middle-earth. An alliance of Elves and Men is formed to counter Sauron's, but Sauron kills Elendil, the High King of Men. His son, Isildur, grabs Elendil's broken sword and slashes at Sauron's hand, separating him from the Ring. However, because Sauron's "life force" is bound to the Ring, he is not completely defeated until the Ring itself is destroyed. Isildur takes the Ring and succumbs to its temptation, refusing to destroy it. He is later ambushed and killed by orcs, and the Ring is lost in a river. Thousands of years later the Ring is found by the hobbit Sméagol who is transformed into the creature Gollum by the Ring's power. Since the Ring is bound to Sauron, it has a will of its own and wants to be found. The Ring consciously leaves Gollum in its quest to be reunited with Sauron. It is instead found by the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.

The story jumps forward sixty years as Bilbo prepares for his 111th ("eleventy-first") birthday. Bilbo leaves the Ring to his nephew and adopted heir, Frodo Baggins. Gandalf the Wizard arrives and is concerned at Bilbo's unnatural age and affection for the Ring. He rides off in search of answers and discovers that the ring in Bilbo's possession is indeed the One Ring. Taking no chances, Gandalf rushes back to the Shire and tells Frodo to leave with the Ring. Frodo leaves with his friend and gardener, Sam. They plan to meet Gandalf in the village of Bree after he goes to Isengard to meet the head of his order, Saruman. Saruman reveals that the Nazgûl, or Ringwraiths, have left Minas Morgul to capture the Ring and will kill whoever carries it. Gandalf tries to leave to help Frodo, but Saruman imprisons Gandalf atop Orthanc, his tower.

Frodo and Sam are joined by fellow hobbits Merry and Pippin. They reach Bree and meet a man called Strider who agrees to lead them to Rivendell. They agree only because Strider already knows about the Nazgûl and that Gandalf isn't there to guide them. After some travelling they are attacked by the Nazgûl. Strider fights off the Ringwraiths, but Frodo is critically wounded. They rush to get him to Rivendell for healing while being chased by the Nazgûl. Frodo is taken to Rivendell by the elf princess Arwen and is healed by her father, Elrond.

In Rivendell Frodo is reunited with Gandalf and Elrond calls a council to decide what should be done with the Ring. The council discusses that the Ring can only be destroyed by throwing it into the fires of Mount Doom, and that the journey there will be incredibly dangerous. Frodo volunteers to take the Ring to Mount Doom. He is accompanied by his hobbit friends and Gandalf, as well as Strider, who is revealed to be Aragorn, the rightful heir to the throne of Gondor. Also travelling with them are the Elf Legolas, the Dwarf Gimli and Boromir, the son of the Steward of Gondor. Together they comprise the Fellowship of the Ring.

The Fellowship sets out and tries to pass over the mountain Caradhras, but are stopped by Saruman's wizardry. At Gimli's insistence, they decide to travel under the mountain through the Mines of Moria. They are attacked by Orcs and encounter a Balrog, an ancient demon of fire and shadow, at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm. Gandalf confronts the Balrog on the bridge, allowing the others to escape, but the Bridge breaks apart and he falls with the creature into the abyss.

The group flees to the Elven realm of Lothlórien where they are given protection. Boromir tells Aragorn about the troubles afflicting the land of Gondor and the people's desire to see a strong King rescue it from destruction. He also states that he and Aragorn shall return to the city of Minas Tirith as "The Lords of Gondor". Frodo meets Galadriel, who tells him that it is his destiny to carry the Ring and ultimately destroy it. They leave Lothlorien and travel on the River Anduin towards Parth Galen.

After landing at Parth Galen, Boromir tries to take the Ring from Frodo, believing that it is the only way to save Gondor. Frodo manages to escape by putting the Ring on his finger and vanishing. Aragorn encounters Frodo, but unlike Boromir, Aragorn chooses not to take the Ring. Knowing that the Ring's temptation will be too strong for the Fellowship, Frodo decides to go to Mordor alone. Meanwhile, the rest of the Fellowship are attacked by Uruk-hai, who Saruman had ordered to hunt down the Fellowship and recover the Ring. Merry and Pippin, realizing that Frodo is leaving, distract the orcs and help Frodo to escape. Boromir rushes to the aid of the two hobbits but is mortally wounded by the orc commander Lurtz. Before Lurtz can finish Boromir, Aragorn arrives and kills Lurtz. Boromir regrets having attempted to steal the Ring, but is forgiven by Aragorn, who promises that he will not allow Gondor to fall into ruin. Boromir accepts Aragorn as his king before he dies.

Merry and Pippin are captured, prompting Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas to begin their pursuit of the orcs with the intent of rescuing the hobbits. Before Frodo is able to depart, Sam arrives and chases after Frodo, insisting that he made a promise - to go with Frodo and to look after him. Together they cross the river and, climbing the hills on the far shore, they look out upon the land of Mordor far away.

Few projects were anticipated as highly as Peter Jackson's production of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings". Many were doubtful that Jackson would succeed as it was thought to be impossible to turn "Lord of the Rings" into a film after the titanic success of the three books. Thus, Jackson did what no director had ever done before; at least not on such an enormous scale. He filmed all three movies at the same time, making use of multiple production units and overseeing the multiple shoots by satellite. Jackson's project and production model remains one of the largest, most costly, and most successful in the history of the motion picture industry. Nominated for a staggering 13 Academy Awards and receiving four, "Fellowship..." was praised by the Academy, even if it didn't earn the "high" awards fans were hoping for.

My Rating: 8.5/10

Content to Caution:
V-3.5 - Several scenes of intense violence related to fantasy-type fighting.
L-1.5 - Some mild language and cursing.
DU-2 - Some drinking and smoking.
RT-2.5 - While not necessarily offensive to the viewer, strong racial themes exist between the races of Men, Hobbits, Orcs, and so forth.
H/S-3 - No comment.
CH-0 - No comment.
S/N-0 - No comment.

The "Reel Revelation": "The Sound Of Footsteps Beside Me"

One of the reasons "Lord of the Rings" (the books) managed to earn such great success was because it touched on themes that everyone could understand and appreciate. If readers were willing to peel back Tolkien's thick prose and look into the heart of the story, they'd find elements of faith, love, perseverance, commitment, the battle between good and evil, and friendship; themes all people can relate to. Peter Jackson's creative vision enabled him to carry those same themes into his cinematic production of Tolkien's masterpiece. Of all the themes featured in the films (of which there are more than I listed above, I assure you), few are as great and profoundly obvious as friendship.

If you were to ask a person to list the Top 10 things in their life they're most thankful for, I feel confident that "Friends" and/or "Family" would be in the Top 5. It's no surprise or mystery that we should cherish our friendships so deeply. It's also no surprise or mystery that we should go to such great lengths to keep our friends close and our friendships strong. Because friendship is so central to the human experience, many artists, poets, and writers have spent significant time and energy to convey (in artistic terms) why we are in such great need of good friends and companions. Few artistic examples display the deep and lasting value of true friendship better than the friendship between Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee.

Can you imagine yourself in Frodo's place, learning that the seemingly worthless trinket your Uncle left you was in fact the most powerful weapons in the world? On top of that, you've suddenly been charged with the responsibility of taking care of it and making sure it gets to a place you've never been before. Things starting to feel a bit harrowing? But at the last moment Gandalf "compels" the help of Frodo's friend and gaffer (gardener), Sam. Imagine again how Frodo must have felt, to have so much of that burden lifted off of his shoulders because he knew Sam was going along with him? And that is precisely why we need people to walk alongside us; to help relieve the burdens we cannot bear alone.

"Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself." (Galatians 6:1-3)

How many times have we deceived ourselves by believing we can do it on our own? How many times have we overloaded our shoulders to the point where our backs were breaking because we weren't willing to reach out and ask for help? How many times have we refused the help of other people because we believed we were "something"? God calls us away from such vanity and into the way of righteous living, the way of humility and holiness.

If you're in the midst of a season of trial, reach out for help! Maybe you're not even going through a "trial", but you know that you need assistance. Call out to God, and ask Him to send someone to help you. Who knows who will arrive! But when that person comes alongside you, humble yourself, welcome them into your situation, and give thanks to God for the sound of footsteps beside you.

See you tomorrow - E.T.