If you never read the books, then your missing out!
The Lord of the Rings trilogy centers around a Hobbit. Hobbits are small, three foot creatures with wooly feet, who like to party and eat, and don't really care for action or adventure. The Hobbit, who's name is Frodo Baggins (Elija Wood), receives a ring, the "One Ring" from his uncle, Bilbo Baggins (Iam Holm). This ring is the source of much greed and power sought after by a spirit known as Sauron.
Bilbo aquired the ring in a dark cave he stumbled on to quite literally. (To know how this happened, you should have read The Hobbit By J.R.R. Tolkien.) Biblo takes the ring from a creature named Golum (Andy Serkis), and for sixty years, it lived in Bag End, a hill in the Shire.
Bilbo, 111 "eleventy-one" years old and getting older, decides to leave the Shire for good. He entrusts the ring to Frodo, who realizes it's power and knows that it must be destroyed.
With the help of the Wizard, Gandalf, and three other Hobbits (Samwise "Sam" Gamgee [Sean Astin], Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck [Dominic Monaghan] and Perigrin "Pippin" Took [Billy Boyd]), he sets off to the land of Mordor, to the fires of Mount Doom, to throw the ring in to the fires from wence it came to ensure that it is destroyed.
Along the way, they meet up with Boromir (Sean Bean), and friend, and soon make it to Rivendell where it is agreed that Frodo will leed "The Fellowship of the Ring" along with Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen), Boromir, Legolas (an Elf, Orlando Bloom), Gimli (A Dwarf, John Rhys-Davies), Aragorn (a Ranger, Viggo Mortensen), and the three other Hobbits.
The journey takes them to the top of a mountain to mines beneth the same mountain. they travel along a river, and fight many Orcs and Goblins along the way.
By the end, Gandalf is gone, and Boromir is dead. Two Hobbits are missing, and the Fellowship is broken up.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed simultaniously over 16 months in New Zealand. It is a masterpiece of Film making that stands above all else. Director Peter Jacskon took a book beloved by many and made it into a monster of a smash hit. There can be nothing more said because this film is like nothing else ever seen.
Plot: 
It is a simple plot, but in order to understand bits and pieces of it you must have read The Hobbit. But if you haven't, it makes little to no difference.
Some of the characters are hard to follow (namely Boromir and Aragorn) because they look alike. Other than that, there is nothing to confuse you.
Visual Effects:
Visual effects make this movie. Oh boy, do they ever! They are stunning, to say the least; you have to see them to belive them.
Sound:
Sound effects are just as good as the visual effects. No kidding! every to do with sound just flows so well, there isn't anything bad to say about it.
Character Development:
Some characters die in thier quest for the ring (Boromir) and some die saving the ring.
Most characters change greatly. We learn a lot about certain characters and little about others, but the stuff we learn outweighs the stuff we are missing.
Atmosphere:
Once you get into Middle Earth, you don't leave. You're trapped. It is such a wonderfully made land filled with all kinds of characters.
Realism:
This must have been what it was like during the middle ages. Although it is a fantasy, it doesn't have to be totally real.
Warren�s Rating:
Other movies nominated for Best Picture with it:
A Beautiful Mind, (2001); Gosford Park, (2001); In the Bedroom, (2001); Moulin Rouge, (2001)
9.43/10 Is the movie worth your time to watch?
26-04-03
