The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – A small band of hobbits find themselves caught up in a quest to destroy the One Ring, the source of the evil Sauron’s power. Joined by noble humans, a gruff dwarf, a wise wizard and an ethereal elf, the Fellowship must journey deep into dangerous lands and all the while the Ring slowly exerts its poisonous influence.
The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001) – Director: Peter Jackson
Rating: PG
Running Length: 178 mins
Starring: Elijah Wood / Ian McKellen / Viggo Mortensen
Genre: Fantasy, Action/Adventure
REVIEW: ‘THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSIP OF THE RING’
The first live action movie to bring JRR Tolkien’s ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ books to the big screen was always going to be massive undertaking. Featuring a rich world populated by humans, wizards, dwarves, hobbits, elves, trolls and orcs (to name but a few) it would be no easy feat to bring the richness of the iconic books to life. It is a credit to director Peter Jackson that the film neither languishes in self absorbing detail nor chooses Hollywood pace at the expense of creating a detailed fantasy world.
‘The Fellowship Of The Ring’ is perhaps the slowest of the three ‘Lord Of The Rings’ movies. Through necessity, much of the first hour of the movie is spent establishing characters, motives and describing vital back-story. However the gorgeously shot world and beautifully haunting score combined with spot-on performances from every single one of the actors mean that even in the film’s more relaxed moments, the experience is still a joy to be a part of. By the time the hobbits are desperately fleeing toward the solace of the elvish city of Rivendell, the audience are so absorbed in their plight that every danger and every victory cannot help but elicit concern, joy and relief. Featuring amazing special effects from the newly started ‘Weta Workshop’ including detailed costumes, sets, models, CGI and backdrops, the ‘Fellowship Of The Ring’ is a deeply engaging experience and viewers cannot help but be ensnared into its universe.
CONTENT: IS ‘THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?
‘The Fellowship Of The Ring’ was the only one of the ‘Lord Of The Rings’ movies to be awarded a PG certificate, both in the theatrical and home media releases. The content is certainly milder than would be present in the subsequent movies. However, Tolkien’s world is one of battles, swords and arrows and there are many scenes involving people fighting for their lives. The evil ‘orcs’ are often slashed, hacked and chopped up whilst many background ‘good’ characters often meet a similar fate. So why is this movie a PG and not a 12?
Context is key as is the general lack of ‘gore’. Yes, characters are shown to be in pain, and indeed killed, but this is to be expected in a large scale battle between good and evil. The camera never lingers on any one injury. Blood, although present from time to time, is used to a bare minimum. Any child who enjoys ‘swords and shields’ action will most likely have no problem with the violence in ‘The Fellowship Of The Ring’ but adult supervision is recommended for younger children who may be on edge with such things.
Aside from the big fight scenes there are some smaller scale incidents to note. Early on, when the hobbits reach the town of Bree we are briefly introduced to a friendly gatekeeper. A little later the terrifying ‘ring wraiths’ arrive in pursuit and, in storming the gate, this character is crushed under horsefoot. It isn’t graphic and happens very quickly, but if a child is upset by seeing nice characters suffer then it is a moment to note. More so than the rather mild violence, the content to most be wary of are the scary parts. We must stress that we feel many children will most likely have no problem, and indeed be expecting, the small scares present in ‘The Fellowship Of The Ring’; we simply point these out so that you are aware of them beforehand and might feel that such scenes may be too strong for your child.
The scariest enemies in ‘The Fellowship Of The Ring’ are the ring wraiths. They are explained to have once been human kings but were corrupted by rings of power given to them by Sauron; doomed now to act as Sauron’s ‘hunters’ in Middle Earth and they are usually depicted as heavily robed figures on horseback. Their faces are covered and normally only gnarled hands can be seen. However, every time they are present the musical score, camera direction and reactions of the lead characters make it clear that they are enemies to be feared. The wraiths pursue the hobbits throughout much of the film and catch up with them on a few occasions. One famous scene shows the hobbits hiding behind a tree as the lead wraith ‘sniffs’ just behind them, as if he can sense them there, in a tense scene that lasts a couple of minutes. Later, the wraiths surprise the hobbits when they have made camp and protagonist hobbit, Frodo, inadvertently puts on the One Ring. In doing so he becomes invisible to everyone but the wraiths and, more importantly, we can see the wraiths for what they really are: withered half-man/half-skeleton figures. During this scene they screech loudly and move on Frodo, with the whole attack lasting a few minutes.
If you feel that the child who wants to watch ‘The Fellowship Of The Ring’ will be alright with such content then it is unlikely that other scenes will be of much concern. We would mention the huge fire consumed beast called the ‘Balrog’ that lives in the mines of Moria simply because, well, it’s a huge scary creature! However, we feel this is more likely to be a very exciting scene and, as it comes later in the movie than the ring wraith’s attack (and not long after a large tentacled sea monster attacks the troupe), if the child has been alright so far this is unlikely to tip them over the edge.
Lastly we want to highlight some scenes of emotional distress. We certainly don’t want to go into spoiler territory here and so will have to be a little vague. What ‘The Fellowship Of The Ring’ does very well is make this fantasy world seem totally and believably real. Therefore, when things happen to established characters these events are certainly not glossed over. Other characters are shown to be overcome with emotion, distraught and sobbing openly. This happens on three occasions in particular, the first as a consequence of an attack by a large creature called a ‘troll’; the second being shortly after the Balrog scene mentioned above; and the third right at the end of the movie when the party are attacked by unusually large and vicious orcs called ‘uruk-hai’. The uruk-hai are shown to be specifically created earlier in the film for extra size and aggression. One of the closing scenes of the film features a heroic but tragic moment after a large scale uruk-hai attack and Jackson wrings every drop of emotion out of it as possible. Younger children (and older children who are sensitive to such things) may need supervision and reassurance during these scenes.
CAN I SEE A CLIP?
VERDICT: IS ‘THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING’ FOR KIDS?
This is a very long film which is a touch slow to start and has a few weighty moments in the middle (the scene with elvish queen, Galadriel, may stretch the patience of some children), but where it lacks pace in some places, it more than makes up for it in creating a fantastical yet believable world. With more than its fair share of high action sequences, a welcome vein of warm comedy moments and top level performances from the loveable hobbits, this movie will be a thoroughly engaging experience for children. By its nature it was always going to have violent clashes and scary scenes, but the PG tag is well earned in that the film is always careful to ensure it does not go too far into these elements. Younger children will probably need an adult present to see them through but older children are likely to be so enthralled that you may find yourself receiving a barrage of constant ‘Tolkien talk’ for weeks to come!
- Violence: 3/5 (although fairly constant there is no real gore and the violence is never surprising or unreasonably sustained)
- Emotional Distress: 3/5 (as detailed, when certain things happen to certain characters, the consequences are explored and the other characters suffer emotionally)
- Fear Factor: 3/5 (although we have highlighted some scary elements, they make up a small percentage of the film and will, in all probability, be really fun for children who like a bit of a scare)
- Sexual Content: 0/5
- Bad Language: 0/5
- Dialogue: 2/5 (there are no real loaded statements. Most characters say what they mean and the only ‘threatening’ language comes from the bad characters, which is normally coupled with a fight scene in any event and so not distressing in its own right)
- Other notes: Deals with themes of honour, friendship, acting in a great cause despite the odds and finding your own inner strength.
Words by Mike Record
The reason why this first part of Jackson’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ is superior to his latter two parts is because of restraint. Jackson was restrained from over doing it with the CGI and “epic” battle sequences, which in my opinion does not make a story epic. Part of the reason was simply because Tolkien did not have very many battles in the first part of his book, which thankfully forced Jackson to focus on creating a believable world rather than a believable hack-n-slash action movie.
I don’t find much entertainment in watching people mutilate each other, but I love it when a movie engages me in a world, and ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ does just that. Certainly the most breathtaking scenes in the movie are the moments of patient observation, when the camera pans around and captures the beautiful settings of Middle Earth. I must give Jackson credit. He did hire some very extraordinary artists that have envisioned one of the grandest interpretations of Tolkien’s world.
There are about five particular moments that stick out in my mind and gave me that tingle of goosebumps down my spine when I saw them for the first time. The first is the introduction to Hobbiton. After the somewhat awkward prologue, I was beginning to have my doubts to whether the movie would live up to the book. But the movie surprised me. Hobbiton is perfect. The houses have flower patches and old fences, the roads look worn and made through decades of travel, and the Old Mill spins with the laziness of a quiet town. Every color is vibrant and every moment looks as through it was taken out of a picture book. Although I still don’t agree with the particular look of the Hobbits, I believe everything else in Hobbiton is worthy of Tolkien’s words.
The second moment comes after Frodo’s awakening in Rivendell, and the third, during the exploration of the Halls of Moria. In both moments, the camera pans away from the characters and outward into a static shot of their surroundings. The moments make us feel like we’re turning our heads and gazing at the world around us just as the characters do. The golden waterfalls of the elven city mark an interesting contrast with the dark halls of the dwarfish mines, but each are inspiring in their own ways and add to feeling of being engaged in a living world.
My other favorite moments come during the exploration of Lothlorien and the passage down the Anduin. And while I won’t go into detail about the scenes, since they really should be experienced without any prior expectations, they are monuments in imaginative cinema. ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ is one of those rare movies that I always wish I could reexperience for the first time. Unfortunately, Jackson turned away from exploring Middle Earth in his next two movies, and instead, turned to fighting and warfare. He seems to take a lot of pride in the love story and battle sequences he created in ‘The Two Towers’ and ‘The Return of the King,’ but it is was in his first movie when he really got it right. In ‘The Fellowship of the Ring,’ it’s okay if the characters are uninteresting and have silly dialogue. Middle Earth is the star, and the characters are the ones seeing it for the first time.