The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) is the first film in a trilogy that retells the historic fantasy title The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien. This epic movie is directed by Peter Jackson and features an extensive cast of excellent characters.
How to Stream or Download The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
You can stream it or you can download the movie by clicking on the Download button below the review. The film continues the story told in The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies (2014). If you like Middle-earth, you should also check out and download the following games: The Lord of the Rings Online and Middle-earth: Shadow of War.
The Film Review
The movie introduces us to the rich world of Middle-earth, full of fantasy creatures both human and monstrous in nature. There are elves, orcs, dwarves, half-men, and plenty of other interesting races. They all coexist in the land of Middle-earth, but a singular ring threatens the fate of the entire world.
Generally speaking, the scope of the story in The Lord of the Rings is absolutely massive. It’s an epic fantasy tale in the truest sense, ripe with world-building, politics, and massive forces of both good and evil. The Fellowship of the Rings is a gentle introduction to this world and focuses on a Hobbit (a half-man) named Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood).
When the revered wizard Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) visits the Shire, the home of the Hobbits, a series of events are set in motion. This ends up with Frodo in possession of a ring; the most powerful ring known to the entire realm of Middle-earth.
Frodo’s destiny is to destroy the ring and prevent the rise of Sauron, a dangerous threat that feeds off the ring. His destiny to destroy the ring sends him on a long and grueling journey. Along with his Hobbit friends Samwise (Sean Astin), Merry (Dominic Monaghan), and Pippin (Billy Boyd), Frodo sets out on his adventure.
Although it can feel lengthy and a bit slow paced, Frodo’s journey is ripe with incredibly memorable scenes, locations, and characters.
The world that Peter Jackson and the rest of the crew have created is absolutely stunning. Even now, over a decade since the film’s release, the special effects hold strong. This is due to a smart use of practical effects and using real actors for various creatures instead of CGI.
The movie’s pace gives us enough time to become invested with each character, including the other characters that get added onto the group later. Besides the Hobbits, we are eventually introduced to a wide assortment of people who join Frodo on his journey. Between Boromir (Sean Bean), Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), the main cast is incredibly well acted and written.
There are also some fantastic antagonistic characters, like the creeping humanoid Gollum (Andy Serkis), morally questionable wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee), and a slew of horrifying orcs.
Nearly every aspect of The Fellowship of the Ring is a result of master craftsmanship. At the very worst, the film can seem a bit boring at times, but nearly every scene is important and necessary. Dialogue is engaging to watch, thanks to a great script and the characters represented are faithful to the source material.
The action is thrilling and looks great, and the settings and locations are absolutely entrancing. Ultimately, the story feels a bit unfinished, as The Fellowship of the Rings is the beginning of a trilogy. However, the movie stands up as one of the best fantasy films ever made. If you’ve never seen The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, you definitely should.
