|
 Movie
B- |
Video A | Audio A
| Extras A-
Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo
Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom
director Peter Jackson | New Line Home Entertainment
2001 | Epic - Mythical - Action - Adventure | PG-13 | 178 minutes
Region 1 | DVD-9
& DVD-9
anamorphic
widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio
| Dolby Digital EX 5.1
Summary: Elijah Wood stars as Frodo, a
Hobbit who bears the burden of trying to return the One Ring that
"rules them all" before it falls back into the wrong
hands. The fate of the Middle-earth rests on this unlikely hero as
he sets forward with a fellowship of friends to properly dispose of the
magical One Ring.
Seriously folks, I thought that this movie is way
over-hyped. While
the special effects were pretty good, this jaded movie-goer found himself
rather bored much of the time during the three-hour movie. The
ending (if you can even call it that!) was rather abrupt and unsatisfying,
leaving many loose ends for the forthcoming sequel, The Two Towers,
to pick up. As the first episode, The Fellowship of the Ring,
could have been effortlessly squeezed down to less than two hours. The
plot was that thin!
Admittedly, I am not a literary fan of J.R.R.
Tolkien's trilogy, having not read the books. Readers of this review
should keep this perspective in mind. Undoubtedly, many fans of
Tolkien's literature will find this movie quite satisfying. But for
me, hoping that this movie would stand on its own merits, I found much to
be desired.
The only things that met my expectations were the
technical qualities of the DVD. The picture quality and surround
sound are superb. Too bad there wasn't any real plot to hang all
this on. If you have not read Tolkien's works and are interested in
this movie, may I suggest a rental first. If you find
yourself agreeing with my perspective, you would have saved much of your
hard-earned cash for a more worthy movie.
Special Features: In-depth programs:
Revealing the Secrets Behind the Production of the Epic Adventure:
"Welcome to Middle-earth", "Quest for the Ring",
"A Passage to Middle-earth"; Featurettes created for www.lordoftherings.net, Exploring the Locales and Cultures of Middle-earth; Exclusive
Behind-the-Scenes Preview of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(10 minutes); Enya "May It Be" music video; original theatrical
trailers and TV spots; preview of Electronic Arts' video game The Lord
of the Rings: The Two Towers; An Inside Look at the Special Extended
DVD Edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,
DVD-ROM content (exclusive online content)
DVD released on 8/6/2002 | Reviewed 8/13/2002
(updated 8/27/02)
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Additional Notes: Unless we specify otherwise, the
video and audio quality are very good when their grades are "A-"
or better. Only the highest number of channels of surround sound
format is listed (e.g., Dolby Digital 5.1). If there are both Dolby
Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtracks, then both are listed. All
DVD-Video discs are backwards compatible with stereo-only playback
systems.
Let us know what you think about this DVD review, write to us at
Staff@TimeForDVD.com.
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Associated equipment used in evaluation: Sony
DVP-S7700 reference DVD player, Sony
KP-61V45 61" rear projection TV (4:3 screen aspect ratio), Sony ES STR-V444ES A/V receiver, four
B&W CDM 9NTs as left/right main speakers
and left/right surrounds, B&W CDM CNT center channel speaker, Monster Cable M-series S-Video cable MSV-500, Monster
Cable Interlink LightSpeed 100 (Toslink) optical cable, Monster Cable
Interlink 400 MKII interconnects, Monster Cable
Original speaker cables in bi-wire configuration with Monster Cable twist-on gold-plated banana plug
connectors, Lovan Sovereign T HiFi audio
rack, and Sony MDR-V600 studio monitor headphones. Our home theater equipment was calibrated
with the Video
Essentials DVD.
Be sure to check out our Top 10 DVDs of the year
2001 and our list of this year's Oscar winners on DVD.
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