The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is the first film of the trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, the second being The Two Towers and the third Return of the King. The film tells the adventures of the members of the "Fellowship of the Ring" that are contained in The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of J. R. R. Tolkien's epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings. The final scene is actually taken from the first chapter of the second volume, The Two Towers. The screenplay was written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson. It was produced as the first of three films based on the novel, filmed simultaneously on location in New Zealand with principal photography taking 14 months and postproduction continuing long after that.

Plot
In the Second Age, the Dark Lord Sauron created special rings to give them to leaders of all the kinds. He gave three rings to the Elves, seven rings to the Dwarfs, and nine rings to the Humans. However, Sauron also secretly created another ring, called the One Ring, which allows him to control the carriers of the other Rings, and such, allowing him to conquer Middle-earth using it. But, In a battle against Sauron, Prince Isildur cuts the Ring from Sauron's hand, destroying his physical form.

However, there is a catch; Sauron's life force is bound to the Ring, allowing him to survive while the Ring also survives. Isildur, corrupted by the Ring's power, refuses to destroy it. When Isildur is killed by Orcs, the Ring is lost in a river for 2,500 years. The Ring is found by Gollum, who has the ring for 500 years, allowing him to live for a very long time, but corrupting his mind, but one day, the Ring separates from Gollum, and remains that way until it is found by the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins.

Sixty years later, Bilbo is celebrating his 111th birthday, and he decides to leave his birthplace of the Shire, and leaves the Ring to his nephew, Frodo Baggins. Upon learning the Ring belonged to Sauron, the Wizard Gandalf the Grey warns Frodo that Sauron's forces will come for him, and has Frodo leave the shire accompanied by his friend Samwise Gamgee. Gandalf rides to Isengard to meet with the head of his order, Saruman the White, who reveals that Sauron's servants, the Nazgûl, have been sent to capture the Ring. Saruman reveals himself to be in service to Sauron and imprisons Gandalf atop his tower. Saruman commands Sauron's Orcs to construct weapons of war and produce a new breed of Orc fighters: the Uruk-hai.

While travelling to Bree to meet with Gandalf, Frodo and Sam are joined by Merry and Pippin, who are stealing some local crops and are nearly captured by the Nazgûl. The four reach Bree and meet the mysterious ranger Aragorn (Isildur's descendant) who hides them from their pursuers and agrees to lead them to Rivendell since Gandalf hasn't arrived. The group rests at Weathertop where they are attacked by the Nazgûl, and Frodo is wounded by a Morgul blade, but Aragorn arrives and scares off the Nazgûl. Frodo is saved by the Elf Arwen, who uses her magic to summon a surge of water that sweeps away the pursuing Nazgûl. Arwen takes Frodo to Rivendell where her father, Elrond, heals him.

Gandalf escapes Saruman's tower with the aid of Gwaihir the eagle and travels to Rivendell. Elrond calls a council of the races still loyal to Middle-earth to decide what should be done with the Ring. He reveals that the Ring can only be destroyed by throwing it into the fires of Mount Doom in Mordor, where it was forged, as he himself tried to get Isildur to destroy it. Frodo volunteers to take the Ring to Mordor, accompanied by Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, and Aragorn. They are joined by the Elf Legolas, the Dwarf Gimli, and Boromir, a man of Gondor, to form the Fellowship of the Ring.

Hindered by Saruman's magic, the Fellowship are forced to travel through the abandoned underground Dwarf city of Moria. Inside, the Fellowship is ambushed by Orcs and a Balrog, an ancient demon of fire and shadow. Gandalf confronts the Balrog, allowing the others to escape, but both Gandalf and the Balrog fall into an abyss. Mourning Gandalf's apparent death, the group flees to the forest of Lothlórien, where they are sheltered by its rulers, the Elves Galadriel and Celeborn. That night, Galadriel informs Frodo that it is his destiny to destroy the Ring. Meanwhile, Saruman assembles a force of Uruk-hai to hunt the Fellowship.

After leaving Moria's caves and then arriving at Parth Galen, Boromir, after hinting that the ring should be used as a weapon to fight against Mordor, eventually gives in to the Ring's corruption and tries to take it from Frodo, believing it is the only way to save the people of Gondor. Heeding Galadriel's warning that the Ring will eventually corrupt the other members of the Fellowship, Frodo escapes by the Ring's power of invisibility and decides to continue his journey alone.

The Uruk-hai arrive, and Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli attempt to hold them off while Frodo escapes. Merry, Pippin, and a remorseful Boromir, who realized the ring's corruption and prays for forgivness, lead the Orcs away from Frodo. Boromir is shot fatally by the Uruk-hai's leader, Lurtz, while Merry and Pippin are captured by the rest of the Uruk-hai. Aragorn slays Lurtz, and Boromir dies with Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas by his side. The three set out to rescue Merry and Pippin, while Frodo lets Sam join him in his journey to Mordor.

Accolades
In 2002, the film won four Academy Awards from thirteen nominations. The winning categories were for Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup, and Best Original Score. It was also nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Ian McKellen), Best Art Direction, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Original Song (Enya, Nicky Ryan and Roma Ryan for "May It Be"), Best Picture, Best Sound (Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Gethin Creagh and Hammond Peek), Best Costume Design and Best Adapted Screenplay.

As of March 2013, it is the 31st highest-grossing film worldwide, with US$871,530,324 in worldwide theatrical box office receipts.

The film won the 2002 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. It also won Empire readers' Best Film award, as well as five BAFTAs, including Best Film, the David Lean Award for Best Direction, the Audience Award (voted for by the public), Best Special Effects, and Best Make-up. The film was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Fight between Gandalf and Saruman.

In June 2008, AFI revealed its "10 Top 10"—the ten best films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. The Fellowship of the Ring was acknowledged as the second best film in the fantasy genre.


 * American Film Institute recognition
 * AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains:
 * Gandalf the Grey – Nominated Hero
 * AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – Nominated
 * AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – Nominated
 * AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – No. 50
 * AFI's 10 Top 10 – No. 2 Fantasy film