I didn’t realize I haven’t done a movie review for almost exactly two years. Given the state of the world right now, I really wanted to watch something with hope, friendship, and the idea that even the smallest good deeds can make a positive difference in the entire world.

Thus, a rewatch of the extended edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE REVIEW.

“With the help of a courageous fellowship of friends and allies, Frodo embarks on a perilous mission to destroy the legendary One Ring. Hunting Frodo are servants of the Dark Lord, Sauron, the Ring’s evil creator. If Sauron reclaims the Ring, Middle-earth is doomed. Winner of four Academy Awards, this epic tale of good versus evil, friendship and sacrifice will transport you to a world beyond imagination.”

One of the key components to this movie, for me, is the absolutely iconic music. I don’t know that I ever actually heard of Howard Shore before Peter Jackson’s the Lord of the Rings movies, but right from the beginning of this movie, the music dredges up so many memories. I even have the soundtracks from all three movies. The music for the Shire is so vastly different than the music anytime the elves show up, or the nazgul, or when the fellowship is traveling, or when the Uruk-hai are chasing the fellowship, or the riders of Rohan. The music is powerful and moving and just incredibly well done. I could probably do entire posts about the emotional impact of each scene of music in the Fellowship of the Ring, but suffice to say, the music is amazing.

“It is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life,” Bilbo Baggins, writing in “There and Back Again: A Hobbit’s Tale” at the beginning narration of the movie. I feel like we don’t have the ability to celebrate the simple things in life right now and that makes me sad. And I very much know this is my own personal reflection on the current times we are living in because I feel like we are all slaves to the grind. Most of us are barely keeping our heads above water and it feels like all any of us have time for is going to work, getting ready for work, and doing basic chores to stay alive.

Seeing the Shrine and the hobbits living a “simple” life, just getting ready for Bilbo’s birthday celebration, inspires a love of a more technologically free society. But I do very much know that lives as depicted in the Shire are not nearly as simple or carefree as the hobbits’ lives.

The different areas and the locations of this movie are truly astounding. Each area has such a different flavor. The Shrine is clean and colorful with growing things and everyone’s houses are spaced out. This is a severe contrast to the places of men or the elves the hobbits travel through, starting with the human settlement of Bree, which the hobbits arrive at on a dark and stormy night. The streets are close together and everything is dark and confining. Bree offers the illusion of protection; a place with walls doesn’t leave you really room to move or be free. Walls can keep things out, but also people in. But then when the hobbits arrive at Rivendale, it’s such an absolutely beautiful transition. The city of the elves is shown to be spacious, with trees and waterfalls, and ancient architecture, and Elrond mentions to Gandalf that the power of the ring can’t be hidden in Rivendale. So again, those people and places the hobbits have been led to believe will be safe for them are places they can’t stay. And Lothlorien has no walls.

“It’s long since we had any hope,” Boromir in Lothlorien during the elven lament to Gandalf. And wow, do I feel that in my bones right now, especially coming from Boromir. The extended edition shows a lot more of Boromir and casts him in a completely different light than the theatrical release of this movie. We see Boromir wanting only to protect his people and then to protect the hobbits. I think because all of the “heavy hitters” like Gandalf and Aragorn, and maybe even Legolas and Gimli, are focused on protecting just Frodo, Boromir focuses more on Merry Brandybuck and Peregrin Took (Pippin). We see Boromir teaching sword fighting to Merry and Pippin and every time danger shows up, Boromir’s first words and actions are to protect Merry and Pippin. He continues to fight until the very end, even though he says so many times in this movie that there is no hope, especially not for his people. But he keeps trying to do better. He keeps trying to help, even though he makes mistakes. He makes mistakes and he owns how his behavior has hurt Frodo and then he sacrifices himself by protecting Merry and Pippin as long as possible.

So many people on the internet and in scholarly circles have posted in-depth character analysis of every character and their development throughout the movies and one can easily get lost down many rabbit holes of research when doing even a basic internet search. If the minutia analytics fascinate you, there are many rabbit holes for you to find 🙂

And I really do believe that’s one of the strongest messages of this movie. You can be far over your head in most situations but still try your hardest to protect your friends. From Boromir’s sacrifice to Gandalf’s stand off with the balrog, and even Merry and Pippin fighting the cave troll in the Mines of Moria, everyone in the Fellowship contributes to the quest.

The world feels like a continuous dumpster fire, with every day bringing new horrors. Evil is gaining more of a foothold and the world feels more overwhelming and hopeless every day. And then the servants of evil are getting bolder, murdering or enslaving anyone in their path, while the heroes are splintered, hunted, and endangered.

Funny how that description could either belong to The Fellowship of the Ring or to the actual real world in which we live right now.

The Fellowship of the Ring doesn’t end with all the heroes happy and healthy and the quest complete. It’s the first movie in a known trilogy. In fact, it’s a pretty dark ending. Gandalf is lost. Boromir is dead. Merry and Pippin are captured by the Uruk-Hai and taken off towards Isengard. Frodo and Sam have left the others and are heading alone on the darkest path of the movie. The Fellowship is broken with 2/9 of their party gone and 2/9 captured. That’s almost half of the companions dead or prisoners.

This movie is about hope, for all the darkness inherent therein. Never believe in your own limitations. Never believe what others believe you can or can’t do. Never stop fighting, or caring for the people who matter to you. Keep going. Your actions may seem small and insignificant, but every little bit matters.

Overall, this movie is easily a five on my rating scale. I am grateful to have seen this movie in the theater, many years ago when it first came out, and I am equally grateful I purchased the entire extended blu-ray movie trilogy.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Directed by Peter Jackson, performances by Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Savies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Sean Bean, Ian Holm, and Andy Serkis, New Line Cinema, 2001 and 2021.