The widely celebrated 2001 epic kicked off writer-director Peter Jackson’s landmark journey to Middle-earth. The Lord of the Rings series would influence decades of fantasy filmmaking on both the silver screen and the small screen. Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe all owe part of their size, rich lore, and (the newly coined) worldbuilding to Jackson’s trilogy, which introduced audiences to a complex world. Before The Fellowship of the Ring, intricate, episodic universes were reserved for lengthy novels and monthly comic books.
The Kiwi director filmed the trilogy across the two islands of his native New Zealand, taking audiences to an unfamiliar, breathtaking land diverse enough to host Hobbiton, the Dead Marshes, and Isengard. Jackson ushered audiences to foreign landscapes where dwarves, elves, and orcs could conceivably dwell while simultaneously creating an evergreen tourism campaign for the Pacific island country. The luscious Tongariro National Park and the misty peaks of Mount Olympus set the stage for author J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterwork.
Producer and distributor New Line Cinema’s ambitious gamble to shoot all three entries of the original trilogy together paid off. Shot from October 1999 to December 2000 with re-shoots taking place between 2001 and 2004, the series is a cohesive viewing experience. The overwhelming scale of the production included 48,000 pieces of armor, more than 200 horses, and the construction of entire sets, like the Shire, a sleepy and idealistic hobbit village.
Long ago, the insidious Dark Lord Sauron (Sala Baker) created one ring to rule all other rings of power possessed by the leaders of the elves, dwarves, and men. The elves forged an alliance with men to strike Sauron down. Led by Isildur (Harry Sinclair), Sauron and his army were defeated, but Isildur was corrupted by the ring and later killed. Thousands of years later, the ring is recovered by Sméagol (Andy Serkis), a hobbit who possesses it for 500 years. The ring corrupts Sméagol, transforming him into the wretched and deceptive Gollum. During the events of The Hobbit, another hobbit, Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) claims the ring.
Safe at home in the Shire, Bilbo is celebrating his 111th birthday with his nephew, Frodo (Elijah Wood), and his friend from an old adventure, the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen). Meanwhile, in Mordor, home of the all-seeing Eye of Sauron (whose ocular form was evidently not defeated), Gollum is tortured for information about the ring’s whereabouts. The aging Bilbo gifts the ring to Frodo, unaware of its power or influence. As Mordor’s assassins head to the Shire to reclaim the ring, Gandalf convinces Frodo to set out on a journey to destroy his inheritance once and for all.
It’s impossible to describe The Fellowship of the Ring’s overstuffed plot without mentioning Frodo’s partner (double entendre intended), Samwise Gamgee (Sean Aston), and Tolkien’s Three Hunters. The trio includes Isildur’s descendent, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), elven archer Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and ax-wielding dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies). Notably lacking from the cast list and Tolkien’s books, are women and people of color. Liv Tyler stars as a half-elven princess and Aragorn’s love interest, Arwen Undómiel, and then-up-and-coming Cate Blanchett plays the ethereal elven leader, Galadriel, but the women exist to support the men, not appear alongside them.
People of color have long been excluded from science fiction and fantasy stories, genres, which, by nature, create the laws that govern them. The exclusion then comes as an added insult to representation. These stories often serve as a refuge for outsiders, those who don’t fit in, and people otherwise defined as different. The Fellowship of the Ring and its two sequels perpetuate the dearth of people of color in sci-fi and fantasy.
Throughout the three movies, the only people of color with speaking roles are orcs. The actors, obscured by make-up and prosthetics, portray the hideous foot soldiers of Sauron’s evil army. Tolkien’s original work is a flawed palette to work from, but the producers, Jackson, and the film’s casting department didn’t dare to imagine anything else.
The lengthy cast list, with the exception of its disheartening absence of diversity, is a welcome combination of rising stars, known quantities, and promising fresh faces. Child actor Wood joined the prolific Christopher Lee (the dark wizard Saurumon) and the relatively unknown Serkis. Sean Bean (the flawed Boromir), Hugo Weaving (elven leader Elrond), Dominic Monaghan (hobbit Merry), and Billy Boyd (hobbit Pippin) round out a truly mammoth list of central characters.
Eclectic composer Howard Shore (1986’s The Fly, The Silence of the Lambs, and Mrs. Doubtfire) lends the trilogy a world-class score. Shore delivers foreboding themes for each of the series’ antagonists, rousing themes for the protagonists, and the iconic and ambient sounds of the Shire. The scope and genius of Shore’s work is rivaled by only John Williams and the revolutionary music of Star Wars.
Compared to its successors, The Fellowship lacks in action set pieces, but its tranquil opening in the Shire gradually gives way to the escalating danger that threatens its heroes over the course of the 178-minute runtime. The Fellowship is an odyssey to a beautiful world with an intricate history. Jackson’s fantasy epic is a wondrous cinematic achievement.
The Kiwi director filmed the trilogy across the two islands of his native New Zealand, taking audiences to an unfamiliar, breathtaking land diverse enough to host Hobbiton, the Dead Marshes, and Isengard. Jackson ushered audiences to foreign landscapes where dwarves, elves, and orcs could conceivably dwell while simultaneously creating an evergreen tourism campaign for the Pacific island country. The luscious Tongariro National Park and the misty peaks of Mount Olympus set the stage for author J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterwork.
Producer and distributor New Line Cinema’s ambitious gamble to shoot all three entries of the original trilogy together paid off. Shot from October 1999 to December 2000 with re-shoots taking place between 2001 and 2004, the series is a cohesive viewing experience. The overwhelming scale of the production included 48,000 pieces of armor, more than 200 horses, and the construction of entire sets, like the Shire, a sleepy and idealistic hobbit village.
Long ago, the insidious Dark Lord Sauron (Sala Baker) created one ring to rule all other rings of power possessed by the leaders of the elves, dwarves, and men. The elves forged an alliance with men to strike Sauron down. Led by Isildur (Harry Sinclair), Sauron and his army were defeated, but Isildur was corrupted by the ring and later killed. Thousands of years later, the ring is recovered by Sméagol (Andy Serkis), a hobbit who possesses it for 500 years. The ring corrupts Sméagol, transforming him into the wretched and deceptive Gollum. During the events of The Hobbit, another hobbit, Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) claims the ring.
Safe at home in the Shire, Bilbo is celebrating his 111th birthday with his nephew, Frodo (Elijah Wood), and his friend from an old adventure, the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen). Meanwhile, in Mordor, home of the all-seeing Eye of Sauron (whose ocular form was evidently not defeated), Gollum is tortured for information about the ring’s whereabouts. The aging Bilbo gifts the ring to Frodo, unaware of its power or influence. As Mordor’s assassins head to the Shire to reclaim the ring, Gandalf convinces Frodo to set out on a journey to destroy his inheritance once and for all.
It’s impossible to describe The Fellowship of the Ring’s overstuffed plot without mentioning Frodo’s partner (double entendre intended), Samwise Gamgee (Sean Aston), and Tolkien’s Three Hunters. The trio includes Isildur’s descendent, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), elven archer Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and ax-wielding dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies). Notably lacking from the cast list and Tolkien’s books, are women and people of color. Liv Tyler stars as a half-elven princess and Aragorn’s love interest, Arwen Undómiel, and then-up-and-coming Cate Blanchett plays the ethereal elven leader, Galadriel, but the women exist to support the men, not appear alongside them.
People of color have long been excluded from science fiction and fantasy stories, genres, which, by nature, create the laws that govern them. The exclusion then comes as an added insult to representation. These stories often serve as a refuge for outsiders, those who don’t fit in, and people otherwise defined as different. The Fellowship of the Ring and its two sequels perpetuate the dearth of people of color in sci-fi and fantasy.
Throughout the three movies, the only people of color with speaking roles are orcs. The actors, obscured by make-up and prosthetics, portray the hideous foot soldiers of Sauron’s evil army. Tolkien’s original work is a flawed palette to work from, but the producers, Jackson, and the film’s casting department didn’t dare to imagine anything else.
The lengthy cast list, with the exception of its disheartening absence of diversity, is a welcome combination of rising stars, known quantities, and promising fresh faces. Child actor Wood joined the prolific Christopher Lee (the dark wizard Saurumon) and the relatively unknown Serkis. Sean Bean (the flawed Boromir), Hugo Weaving (elven leader Elrond), Dominic Monaghan (hobbit Merry), and Billy Boyd (hobbit Pippin) round out a truly mammoth list of central characters.
Eclectic composer Howard Shore (1986’s The Fly, The Silence of the Lambs, and Mrs. Doubtfire) lends the trilogy a world-class score. Shore delivers foreboding themes for each of the series’ antagonists, rousing themes for the protagonists, and the iconic and ambient sounds of the Shire. The scope and genius of Shore’s work is rivaled by only John Williams and the revolutionary music of Star Wars.
Compared to its successors, The Fellowship lacks in action set pieces, but its tranquil opening in the Shire gradually gives way to the escalating danger that threatens its heroes over the course of the 178-minute runtime. The Fellowship is an odyssey to a beautiful world with an intricate history. Jackson’s fantasy epic is a wondrous cinematic achievement.
A Mixed Review 