The battle to protect Middle Earth

Jan 24, 2002

Bilbo has come into possession of a ring crafted by the evil Lord Sauron to take over their world

Film: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingStars: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Christopher LeeDirector: Peter JacksonRating: PG-13Running time: 178 mins.Showing at: CineplexPreview by: Kalungi KabuyeMove over Harry Potter, here comes the real thing. Although Lord of the Rings (which premiered at Cineplex yesterday) and Harry Potter are both fantasy movies, and have since their release broken most box office records, the similarity stops there.While the Potter books were written by a retired housewife for children, the Rings trilogy is a serious literature work, and is one of the recognised classics of the English language.When the late Oxford Professor Tolkien finished the first volume of The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring) in 1948, he became the first writer to completely create a new world, Middle Earth. This is inhabited by the Hobbits, three-and-a-half feet creatures quietly living out their lives.They do not move out much, but one, Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) has, and along the way, come into possession of a ring that was crafted by the evil Lord Sauron. He made many rings of power, but this is the one that will allow him to completely take over the known world.The ring has to be destroyed before he can get hold of it. This task falls to another Hobbit, Frodo Braggins, who must take it back to where it was made, in Sauron’s realm, for only the fires that crafted it can destroy it.But the evil Lord knows somehow that Frodo has the ring, and sends out his equally evil servants to try and get it before it can be destroyed.So, a Fellowship of the Ring is formed, a group of people dedicated to protecting Frodo and making sure he succeeds in his task.There is Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin), who would give his life for Frodo; then there are Pippin (Billy Boyd) and Merry (Dominic Monaghan), two of Frodo’s closest friends, who will not let him get into trouble alone.There is the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen), who will try and protect them with his magic, and the warriors Aragorn/Strider (Viggo Mortensen) and Boromir (Sean Bean). There is also the Elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and the dwarf Gi (John Rhys-Davies) and his battle axe.Christopher Lee plays Saruman the White, a wizard who is not quite sure which side he is on. There is also the slimy Gollum (Andy Serkis), who once had the ring and wants it backAnd so the journey begins, through evil forests and trees that can walk and fight, all the time being pursued by the evil Lord’s servants.And the critics went to town over it:‘The movie year’s most compelling thrill ride,’ William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer. ‘It has passion, real emotion, real terror, and a tactical sense of evil,” David Ansen, Newsweek.

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