bnorthup
12-19-2001, 03:11 PM
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (PG-13)
All 178 minutes at the Gaslight
Dad: 4 stars
Daughter: 3.5 stars
Gandalf upstages Harry in a season of dueling wizards
By Brent & Katherine Northup
What a month at the movies for families who love to read! And what a month for wizards!
First, we were blessed on Nov. 16 with a faithful adaptation of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” the wizardly book that taught computer geeks how to download a 700-page book without being online. And now, a mere four weeks later, here comes the much older wizard Gandalf to spellbind us again as a 20th Century’s classic is brought faithfully and sensitively to the screen.
Both “Sorcerer’s Stone” and “The Fellowship of the Ring” are being praised for their faithfulness to the books. It’s fair to say, however, that while “Harry” reviews were polite and positive, many “Ring” reviews have been absolute raves.
Well, add our ringing praise to the chorus of accolades. Although I’m not one who has read the Ring Trilogy, I was nevertheless captivated by the three-hour tale of friendship, adventure and good’s battle against evil. In my view, the first hour is flawless, the second very good and the third simply good until the last few moments when it’s wonderful again. The greatest strength of “Fellowship” is the courageous and touching portrayal of sacrifice. A second strength is the inspired casting of Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm). The weaknesses are technical – fights with monsters are less gripping than hearing Tolkien’s dialogue spoken by fine actors.
The basic story, of course, is the odyssey of Frodo Baggins, the hobbit who joins with an odd assortment of “friends” to take the mythic and frighteningly dangerous ring back to Mount Doom. Frodo must destroy the ring in the same fires where it was forged in order to save the world from the ring’s frightening power.
Daughter Katherine, a Tolkien fan who loved the books, was captivated as well.
“It was a terrifying and awesome film,” she said. “I really enjoyed the characters and seeing how the story fell into place.”
Katherine was particularly spellbound by the spectacular visual look of the film.
“I am a bit of a hippie, so I had fun looking at all of the costuming,” she said. “That was wonderful. It was hard not to actually start to believe there were really orks – and I loved the elf ears and the hobbit’s hairy feet. Everything was so realistic.”
Katherine’s only criticism concerned the breakneck pace of the storytelling.
“It was sad when people sacrificed themselves to help Frodo, but it was moving too fast for you to react,” she said.
Both Katherine and I agreed “Fellowship” was darker than “Sorcerer’s Stone” – and better. The battles are certainly more terrifying – and, we must warn, less suitable for pre-schoolers than Harry’s game of Quidditch. There’s a dark, foreboding edge to “Fellowship” that was missing from “Potter.” And the direction more often rises to the level of art, than in “Potter.”
One has to believe that Tolkien would nod approval towards this loving adaptation of his classic tale.
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) was a British professor of literature. He published “The Hobbit” in 1937, and published “Lord of the Rings” in 1954, when he was 62. Tolkien-mania swept the world in 1965 when the paperback editions hit bookstores worldwide.
Not surprisingly, Tolkien was a friend of C.S. Lewis, who gave us “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” What a wonderful friendship that must have been. Oh, how I would have loved to serve tea to them as they talked.
For Tolkien fans who wish to learn more about everything small, I would recommend two web sites for starters: www.planet-tolkien.com and www.ringfan.com. You could spend the next week on those sites and never tire of what you find in the middle earth regions of these Tolkien archives.
In years hence, I suspect many of us will look back on the winter of 2001 as the season of the family – when great children’s classics books were faithfully adapted with big budgets and great casts.
Katherine and I join many others in Helena in expressing our gratitude for these special Christmas presents.
END
All 178 minutes at the Gaslight
Dad: 4 stars
Daughter: 3.5 stars
Gandalf upstages Harry in a season of dueling wizards
By Brent & Katherine Northup
What a month at the movies for families who love to read! And what a month for wizards!
First, we were blessed on Nov. 16 with a faithful adaptation of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” the wizardly book that taught computer geeks how to download a 700-page book without being online. And now, a mere four weeks later, here comes the much older wizard Gandalf to spellbind us again as a 20th Century’s classic is brought faithfully and sensitively to the screen.
Both “Sorcerer’s Stone” and “The Fellowship of the Ring” are being praised for their faithfulness to the books. It’s fair to say, however, that while “Harry” reviews were polite and positive, many “Ring” reviews have been absolute raves.
Well, add our ringing praise to the chorus of accolades. Although I’m not one who has read the Ring Trilogy, I was nevertheless captivated by the three-hour tale of friendship, adventure and good’s battle against evil. In my view, the first hour is flawless, the second very good and the third simply good until the last few moments when it’s wonderful again. The greatest strength of “Fellowship” is the courageous and touching portrayal of sacrifice. A second strength is the inspired casting of Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm). The weaknesses are technical – fights with monsters are less gripping than hearing Tolkien’s dialogue spoken by fine actors.
The basic story, of course, is the odyssey of Frodo Baggins, the hobbit who joins with an odd assortment of “friends” to take the mythic and frighteningly dangerous ring back to Mount Doom. Frodo must destroy the ring in the same fires where it was forged in order to save the world from the ring’s frightening power.
Daughter Katherine, a Tolkien fan who loved the books, was captivated as well.
“It was a terrifying and awesome film,” she said. “I really enjoyed the characters and seeing how the story fell into place.”
Katherine was particularly spellbound by the spectacular visual look of the film.
“I am a bit of a hippie, so I had fun looking at all of the costuming,” she said. “That was wonderful. It was hard not to actually start to believe there were really orks – and I loved the elf ears and the hobbit’s hairy feet. Everything was so realistic.”
Katherine’s only criticism concerned the breakneck pace of the storytelling.
“It was sad when people sacrificed themselves to help Frodo, but it was moving too fast for you to react,” she said.
Both Katherine and I agreed “Fellowship” was darker than “Sorcerer’s Stone” – and better. The battles are certainly more terrifying – and, we must warn, less suitable for pre-schoolers than Harry’s game of Quidditch. There’s a dark, foreboding edge to “Fellowship” that was missing from “Potter.” And the direction more often rises to the level of art, than in “Potter.”
One has to believe that Tolkien would nod approval towards this loving adaptation of his classic tale.
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) was a British professor of literature. He published “The Hobbit” in 1937, and published “Lord of the Rings” in 1954, when he was 62. Tolkien-mania swept the world in 1965 when the paperback editions hit bookstores worldwide.
Not surprisingly, Tolkien was a friend of C.S. Lewis, who gave us “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” What a wonderful friendship that must have been. Oh, how I would have loved to serve tea to them as they talked.
For Tolkien fans who wish to learn more about everything small, I would recommend two web sites for starters: www.planet-tolkien.com and www.ringfan.com. You could spend the next week on those sites and never tire of what you find in the middle earth regions of these Tolkien archives.
In years hence, I suspect many of us will look back on the winter of 2001 as the season of the family – when great children’s classics books were faithfully adapted with big budgets and great casts.
Katherine and I join many others in Helena in expressing our gratitude for these special Christmas presents.
END