MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson fulfills his lifelong dream of transforming author J.R.R. Tolkien's best-selling fantasy epic into a three-part motion picture that begins with this holiday 2001 release. Elijah Wood stars as Frodo Baggins, a Hobbit resident of the medieval "Middle-earth" who discovers that a ring bequeathed to him by beloved relative and benefactor Bilbo (Ian Holm) is in fact the "One Ring," a device that will allow its master to manipulate dark powers and enslave the world. Frodo is charged by the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) to return the ring to Mount Doom, the evil site where it was forged millennia ago and the only place where it can be destroyed. Accompanying Frodo is a fellowship of eight others: his Hobbit friends Sam (Sean Astin), Merry (Dominic Monaghan), and Pippin (Billy Boyd); plus Gandalf; the human warriors Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and Boromir (Sean Bean); Elf archer Legolas (Orlando Bloom); and Dwarf soldier Gimli (John Rhys-Davies). The band's odyssey to the dreaded land of Mordor, where Mount Doom lies, takes them through the Elfish domain of Rivendell and the forest of Lothlorien, where they receive aid and comfort from the Elf princess Arwen (Liv Tyler), her father, Elrond (Hugo Weaving), and Queen Galadriel (Cate Blanchett). In pursuit of the travelers and their ring are Saruman (Christopher Lee) -- a traitorous wizard and kin, of sorts, to Gandalf -- and the Dark Riders, under the control of the evil, mysterious Sauron (Sala Baker). The Fellowship must also do battle with a troll, flying spies, Orcs, and other deadly obstacles both natural and otherwise as they draw closer to Mordor. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) was filmed in Jackson's native New Zealand, closely followed by its pair of sequels, The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 4
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Cinemascope)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Surround EX, DTS-ES 6.1, Dolby Digital Surround
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Subtitle: English
• Features:
  • • cc Over 30 minutes of new and extended scenes
    • Four feature-length commentaries by the director and writers, the cast, and the production and design teams, with more than 30 participants including Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Richard Taylor, Andrew Lesnie, Howard Shore, Jim Rygiel, and Randy Cook, and cast including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, and Sean Bean
    • Six documentaries covering J.R.R. Tolkien, the process of adapting the book into a screenplay and planning the film, designing and building Middle-earth, as well as a visit to Weta Workshop with an up-close look at the costumes, weapons, armor, creatures, and miniatures created for the film
    • An interactive map of Middle-earth tracing the journey of the Fellowship
    • Galleries of art and accompanying slide shows with commentaries by the artists (includes an archive of nearly 2,000 images)
    • Storyboards and pre-visualisation sequences with film comparisons
    • 11 original documentaries covering the cast, principal photography, a day in the life of a hobbit, visual effects, post-production, editing, music and sound, and the release of the film
    • Galleries of behind-the-scenes photographs
    • Interactive animated menus
    • 12-page companion booklet
    • Exclusive DVD-ROM content

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Cinematography - 2001 (Andrew Lesnie)
•     Won Best Makeup - 2001 (Richard Taylor, Peter Owen)
•     Won Best Score - 2001 (Howard Shore)
•     Won Best Visual Effects - 2001 (Jim Rygiel, Mark Stetson, Randall William Cook, Richard Taylor)
•     Nominated Best Adapted Screenplay - 2001 (Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh)
•     Nominated Best Art Direction - 2001 (Grant Major, Dan Hennah)
•     Nominated Best Costume Design - 2001 (Ngila Dickson, Richard Taylor)
•     Nominated Best Director - 2001 (Peter Jackson)
•     Nominated Best Editing - 2001 (John Gilbert)
•     Nominated Best Picture - 2001 (Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh)
•     Nominated Best Song - 2001 (Nicky Ryan, Enya, Roma Ryan)
•     Nominated Best Sound - 2001 (Hammond Peek, Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Gethin Creagh)
•     Nominated Best Supporting Actor - 2001 (Ian McKellen)

• American Film Institute

•     Won Best Digital Effects - 2001 (Jim Rygiel)
•     Won Best Picture - 2001 (Barrie M. Osborne, Tim Sanders, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh)
•     Won Best Production Design - 2001 (Grant Major)
•     Nominated Best Composer - 2001 (Howard Shore)

• American Society of Cinematographers

•     Nominated Best Cinematography - 2001 (Andrew Lesnie)

• British Academy of Film and Television Arts

•     Won Best Director - 2001 (Peter Jackson)
•     Won Best Makeup and Hair - 2001
•     Won Best Picture - 2001 (Barrie M. Osborne, Peter Jackson, Tim Sanders)
•     Won Best Special Visual Effects - 2001
•     Won Orange Award - 2001
•     Nominated Best Actor - 2001 (Ian McKellen)
•     Nominated Best Adapted Screenplay - 2001 (Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh)
•     Nominated Best Cinematography - 2001 (Andrew Lesnie)
•     Nominated Best Costume Design - 2001 (Ngila Dickson)
•     Nominated Best Editing - 2001 (John Gilbert)
•     Nominated Best Film Music - 2001 (Howard Shore)
•     Nominated Best Production Design - 2001 (Grant Major)
•     Nominated Best Sound - 2001

• Broadcast Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Composer - 2001 (Howard Shore)
•     Won Best Song - 2001 (Enya)
•     Nominated Best Director - 2001 (Peter Jackson)
•     Nominated Best Picture - 2001

• Chicago Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Cinematography - 2001 (Andrew Lesnie)
•     Won Best Original Score - 2001 (Howard Shore)

• Directors Guild of America

•     Nominated Best Director - 2001 (Peter Jackson)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Nominated Best Director - 2001 (Peter Jackson)
•     Nominated Best Original Score - 2001 (Howard Shore)
•     Nominated Best Original Song - 2001 (Enya)
•     Nominated Best Picture - Drama - 2001

• Los Angeles Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Music Score - 2001 (Howard Shore)
•     Won Best Production Design (Runner-up) - 2001 (Grant Major)

• National Board of Review

•     Won Best Production Design - 2001 (Grant Major)
•     Won Best Supporting Actress - 2001 (Cate Blanchett)
•     Won Special Achievement in Filmmaking - 2001 (Peter Jackson)

• Screen Actors Guild

•     Won Best Supporting Actor - 2001 (Ian McKellen)
•     Nominated Best Cast - 2001

• Toronto Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Director [Runner-up] - 2001 (Peter Jackson)
•     Won Best Supporting Actor [Runner-up] - 2001 (Ian McKellen)

• Writers Guild of America

•     Nominated Best Adapted Screenplay - 2001 (Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Peter Jackson

• Producer:

  Peter Jackson, Barrie M. Osborne, Tim Sanders, Fran Walsh

• Screenwriter:

  Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens

• Book Author:

  J.R.R. Tolkien

• Cinematographer:

  Andrew Lesnie

• Songwriter:

  Enya

• Composer (Music Score):

  Howard Shore

• Songwriter:

  Nicky Ryan, Roma Ryan

• Editor:

  John Gilbert

• Production Designer:

  Grant Major

• Art Director:

  Philip Ivey, Joe Peter Bleakley, Rob Otterside, Mark Robins

• Co-producer:

  Jamie Selkirk, Rick Porras

• Associate Producer:

  Ellen M. Somers

• Executive Producer:

  Robert Shaye, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Mark Ordesky, Michael Lynne

• Set Designer:

  Dan Hennah

• Costume Designer:

  Ngila Dickson, Richard Taylor

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  David Farmer, Hammond Peek, Ken Saville, Malcolm Cromie, Michael Semanick, Gethin Creagh

• Makeup:

  Peter Owen, Richard Taylor

• First Assistant Director:

  Carolynne Cunningham

• Casting:

  Liz Mullane, Victoria Burrows, Ann Robinson, Amy MacLean, John Hubbard

• Stunts Coordinator:

  George Marshall Ruge

• Additional Cinematography:

  Alun Bollinger, Allen Guilford

• Second Unit Director:

  Geoff Murphy

• Additional Cinematography:

  Simon Raby

• Visual Effects Supervisor:

  Jim Rygiel

• Visual Effects:

  Alex Funke

• Supervising Sound Editor:

  Mike Hopkins, Ethan Van der Ryn

• Makeup Special Effects:

  Taylor/WETA Workshop Ltd.

• Visual Effects:

  Weta Digital

• Second Unit Director:

  John Mahaffie

• Additional Cinematography:

  John Cavill, Richard Bluck, Nigel Bluck

• Additional Editing:

  Jo Priest

• Conceptual Design:

  John Howe

REVIEW:

• Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is certainly the grandest and most skillfully made cinematic spectacle in recent memory, surpassing even Star Wars -- perhaps the most venerated science fiction series in cinematic history -- in terms of creativity, adventure, and sheer enjoyment. Swift, economical (in spite of a nearly three-hour running time), and extremely engrossing, Jackson starts his tale with a brief and essential history of Middle-earth and its inhabitants to bring moviegoers unfamiliar with J.R.R. Tolkien's epic novel up to speed, while greatly impressing Tolkien's longtime fans with great flourish and a bit of inside humor. And so it goes from the lush and rolling meadows of the Shire to the bleak and infernal wasteland of Mordor, all vividly realized by Jackson's team of screenwriters and special-effects technicians who are all well on their way to receiving a bevy of awards for their amazing work. As for the cast, one would be hard-pressed to assemble a more perfectly suited ensemble. The three main characters -- as portrayed by Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, and Viggo Mortensen -- are the real life force of the film's narrative, each giving astonishing performances with characters that could have very easily been made into caricatures had they been essayed by lesser actors. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring does have some very minor narrative problems, mostly involving some very brief explanations of certain plot elements, while a handful of the secondary characters -- particularly Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom) -- are not quite fully characterized. These issues, however, have more to do with the audacity of attempting to cover the entirety of a 400-page novel in three hours than with some deficiency of the script. As it stands, Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring is the ultimate fantasy film, thereby making the next chapter of the saga, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, one of the most anticipated films of 2002. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi