The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring [2001] Movie Reviews on CinemaClock

First of all, I have not read LOTR, so no comparisons will be made in that regard. I have no problem with 3-hour movies (I saw the 4-hour Hamlet) , but this one failed my watch test (i.e. how often do I look at my watch in the course of a movie?) I found the musical score particularly weak -- formulaic to the point of distraction. The battle sequences seemed to be included solely to placate action fans. And I was constantly aware of the technical tricks they pulled to make people that are a foot different in height appear to be far more different. Having said that, there are certainly elements that are appealing in this movie -- the visuals are excellent, the actors are all quite good, and the underlying story is also good (it's a classic for a reason) Am I going to see the other movies in the trilogy? Probably not. I might read the books, however, and turn on my recording of Lord of the Rings (Symphony No. 1) , composed by Johan de Meij -- a far more compelling musical impression than this movie presents.