The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (2 DVDs)

"One film, to rule them all, to find them all, to drive them into darkness and bind them forever," or wasn't it more like "One book, to rule them all, to find them all, to drive them into darkness and bind them forever"? No, that wasn't it either. In The Lord of the Rings , the ring takes over the servitude, not the book or the film.

And yet, similar to the one ring in the eponymous Lord of the Rings, Oxford literature professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien has managed to bind over 50 million readers worldwide to his work with his three-volume epic since its first publication in 1954. No one else has succeeded in creating such a complex, vibrant world with its peoples, countries, and a self-contained history—indeed, with a truly unique identity—as Tolkien. It's hard to say what is most fascinating about the events of Middle-earth. And so it should suffice at this point to note that the book has developed a lively life of its own in the minds of many fans and has found countless imitators. The list of those whose films and books have been influenced by The Lord of the Rings is very long. To put it succinctly, The Lord of the Rings can easily be described as the mother—pardon—master of an entire genre: fantasy.

So, from the book to the film. No, Peter Jackson's magnum opus isn't the first attempt to plunge the hobbit Frodo Baggins into screen adventures. That honor belongs to Ralph Bakshi, who brought his animated vision to cinema in 1978. A certainly ambitious, albeit unconvincing, and often disappointing, undertaking. Given what New Zealander Peter Jackson accomplished, one should fervently pray that no one ever attempts it again. The Fellowship of the Ring is simply magnificent. Not only does the first part of the trilogy make good use of the scope format, the actors -- Elijah Wood as Frodo, Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn, Sir Ian McKellen as the wizard Gandalf, Orlando Bloom as the elf Legolas, Sean Bean as Boromir, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Liv Tyler as Arwen and last but not least John Rhys-Davies as the dwarf Gimli -- are aptly cast, the special effects created by Jackson's special effects studio WETA are truly spot on (we're just saying Balrog and Cave Troll!) and the care taken in the equipment, which speaks for itself in the manufacture of thousands of pieces of armor, weapons, household goods and more than 1,600 prosthetic feet and ears, is convincing. The director has truly succeeded in respecting the spirit and atmosphere of the book and adapting it for the film without adhering to it slavishly. Ultimately, the film, for which Jackson not only directed but also wrote the screenplay and produced, is accessible to more than just hardcore fans. With the help of a magnificent prologue, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring unfolds all the events from Tolkien's supplementary works surrounding The Lord of the Rings that led to Frodo receiving the Ring and having to destroy it.

You'll be truly enslaved by The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and even more so, you'll be driven into a dark cinema without ever feeling the desire to leave. Even at nearly 180 minutes, this film is far too short!