The Taking of Pelham 123 : movie review

Written by Film critic : Matt Willey : Movie Reviews Dvd and Blu-ray Reviews

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 Is a New thriller starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta directed by Tony Scott shot in the subways of New York City. The story starts as a man who calls himself "Ryder," (John Travolta) leads a band of thugs as they highjack a subway train and MTA dispatcher Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) who is Reluctantly forced to be the Lead negotiator.

movie review The Taking of Pelham 123

This Film is a remake of a 1974 movie of the same name and reworked to meet a new audience. With modern dialog and cell phones, laptop computers and of course the fact that 911 effects the city still, this film was a really fast pace based roughly on the old plot. There are some wild scenes in this movie of New York City as the Mayor, (James Gandolfini) agrees to pay a $10 million ransom and they try to get the money across the city to the subway station. If nothing else is worth the price of admission to see James Gandolfini, Tony Soprano as mayor of New York it’s so cool. Denzel Washington and John Travolta work wel together and their voices are what id cool to have to big name actors in a dialog driven story about two characters that interact over a radio on the subway car. This film was made for a younger audience and I think that those are ones that do go to the movies regularly.

I think my fellow Critics just didn’t get that part of the puzzle, that this film was made with the 17-27ish age group in mind, so it’s fast cuts and rough, realistic dialog. What would a career family man with a Wife and kids and an ex-con straight out of prison talk like, what would the banter be? I think the writers nailed it dead on and the two main actors and Gandolfini included deliver the lines flawlessly. Also, the fact that this film has scenes filmed on the streets of New York to would in my opinion must have been a logistical nightmare and an undertaking that is in itself a commendable feat. This film also has some great editing and that’s often overlooked, editor Chris Lebenzon stitches together a compelling series of images that suck you in, and work well with the Music by Harry Gregson-Williams. This is a good film, not a great film and it overcomes a story that is antiquated, and turns it into a new and improved version that is engaging to watch.

Directed by Tony Scott
Produced by Tony Scott, Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch
Written by Screenplay: Brian Helgeland, David Koepp (uncredited),
Novel: Morton Freedgood
Starring Denzel Washington, John Travolta, James Gandolfini, Luis Guzman, John Turturro, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Frank Wood
Music by Harry Gregson-Williams
Cinematography Tobias A. Schliessler
Editing by Chris Lebenzon
Studio Relativity Media, Scott Free Productions,Escape Artists
Distributed by Columbia Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

There's definite value to making a series of films at the same time: the quality and the "look and feel" is consistent, and the passion of the people involved, if present in the first film, is present in all of them. Most important of all (unlike in The Matrix or even the Star Wars series), it shows that the creators have thought through the implications of their story arc, rather than just generating sequels due to public pressure. In the case of The Lord of the Rings, it probably didn't hurt that the plot was based on a famous well-established book.

And this is how it ends. In The Return of the King, the filmmakers tell a fairly simple story: how the two Hobbits, Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) finally return the powerful ring to the fires of Mount Doom. They take a well-paced 200 minutes to do so and every minute is worth watching.

The best character throughout the whole series of films for me was Smeagol (voiced Andy Serkis) whose history as he becomes the Gollum is showcased here, as is the corrupting nature of power. This is how the movie starts, and as everyone knows, it ends with his death. Perhaps the best lesson from this film is that Frodo is a potential Gollum, and Gollum is a potential Frodo.

The graphics were absolutely perfect. The final epic battle is a visual spectacle. And as has been the trademark in this movie series, the are interspersed with poignant scenes that are irrelevant to time and place, when viewed from an anthropomorphic perspective. Further, the visual scenes themselves a great mix of live action with computer-generated images which blend together seamlessly. The most anticlimactic moment had to do with the defeat of Sauron, which in the end I thought happened a little too easily. I would've liked to see him go head to head a little more with Frodo's friends.

No set of words in a review can do justice to The Lord of the Rings movies, save to say that it's best watched on a large screen with great surround sound so you can see for yourself why.

Watch Season of the Witch Online Megavideo

Season of the Witch is a 2011 American period action film with supernatural elements and directed by Dominic Sena. The film stars Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman as knights who return from the Crusades to find their homeland ruined by the Black Plague. A girl is accused of being a witch and causing the devastation. The film will be released on January 7, 2011.

Season of The Witch 2011 Synopsis :

Many years have Behmen (Nicolas Cage) and Felson (Ron Perlman) lives in battle. Sharply honed instinct they have their instincts as a fighter while also not be underestimated. Unfortunately, the two soldiers of the Crusades was not aware that they face a task that would have proved far more terrible than a battle they've ever experienced.

How disappointed Behmen and Felson when returned to their hometown and found their shattered homeland ravaged, not by enemy but because of an outbreak that has swept the land. Rarely can survive the deadly plague and the only hope left is Behmen and Felson. Church and Felson Behmen ordered to arrest and bring a young girl named Anna (Claire Foy), who was accused as the cause of the horrible plague to a monastery for this plague to an end.

Anna should follow a cleansing ritual that will end the storm that has engulfed the death of the entire European continent. Behmen and Felson not alone. There was a priest named Debelzaq (Stephen Campbell Moore), a soldier named Eckhardt (Ulrich Thomsen, a con man named Hagamar (Stephen Graham), and a young man named Kay (Robert Sheehan). None of them are aware of how much danger would they face in bringing Anna's journey into the remote monastery. And no one knows who the real Anna.

Season of the Witch
Genre : Thriller
Release Date : January 7, 2011
Director : Dominic Sena
Script : Bragi F. Schut
Producer : Alex Gartner, Charles Roven
Distributor : Relativity Media
Duration : 92 minutes
Budget : -
Official Site : seasonofthewitchthemovie.com

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X-Men: First Class Online Free

X-Men: First Class Movie is a series of the 5th of the movie X-Men after the X-Men trilogy and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. X-Men: First Class is the prequel of the X-Men trilogy set in the 60s when Charles Xavier and Eric Lehnsherr / Magneto is still young.

Movie Details

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, January Jones

Running Time: 131 Minutes

Like the four previous series, the film adaptation of the Marvel comic is also predicted to be as successful as the previous films. Film-film adaptation of the Marvel comic is much demand and has proved more successful even in the year 2011 alone 4 movie Marvel is ready to call it aired Thor (already aired last May and had topped the box office), X-Men: First Class (aired June 3 of this), Captain America: First Avenger (aired in July), and Spider-Man 4 (TBA).

X-Men: First Class Movie Synopsis :

X-Men: First Class Movie tells of the friendship of Charles Xavier (played by James McAvoy) and Eric Lehnserr (played by Michael Fassbender). Their friendship eventually dropped out due to disagreements. Charles then formed the group X-Men while Erick formed Brotherhood of mutants. In addition to Professor X and Magneto, another character known in previous X-Men series is Dr. Henry "Hank" McCoy, aka Beast (played by Nicholas Hoult) and Mystique (played by Jennifer Lawrence). Antagonist character in this film are a group of Hellfire Club, chaired by Sebastian Shaw (played by Kevin Bacon) who has the power to absorb the kinetic energy weapon fire and then use it to increase strength and speed.

X-Men: First Class Youtube Trailer Video

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Spartacus Gods Of The Arena Reckoning

Having simply just a pair of episodes associated with Spartacus: Gods on the Area left in order to weather, Now i'm pondering of which items are usually stocking up on towards one thing significant. To get those of you that have happen to be viewing your Spartacus prequel, we've found a clip and many specifics of the following Comes to an end night’s show of which you’ll undoubtedly wish to think about.

Final Comes to an end night’s show has been information on decadence within the section of Lucretia and Batiatus’ pals. The following Comes to an end nighttime, it appears your gladiators are increasingly being place on the test as Titus wants to discover which usually analysts actually are worthy of his or her make. Will certainly the following often be Crixus’ possible opportunity to glow?

Spartacus Gods from the Arena Episode a few on Feb 18, 2011 along with preserve one of the best of your respective Fri while using sequence with this is the prelude to the previous fitting up in such a six units connected with episode from the prequel sequence.

Spartacus Gods of the Arena Episode 5 Reckoning Synopsis:

Batiatus’s father arranges a tournament between his gladiators to put his ludus into a test and determine the worth of his men. Fully committed to succeed, Crixus finds himself drawn into the power play within the house.

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Pirates of the Caribbean 4 on Stranger Tides

Johnny Depp goodness. Is there really anyone out there who could make a sexier pirate that Johnny? Not bloody likely!

ON STRANGER TIDES is one of the best PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movies to date. There were some doubts going into this as two key characters from the original trilogy are missing, Will and Elizabeth Turner. While Will and Elizabeth added a lot to the first three films their absence in the fourth is hardly worth mentioning. A new cast mixed with many old favorites makes for a great story.

On this adventure Jack faces off against Blackbeard, vicious mermaids, and an old girlfriend while searching for The Fountain of Youth. It’s good to see that Jack is keeping busy.

This movie is fun and exciting, loaded with action. There’s even a nice cliff-hanger to encourage the idea of a PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 5. It seems like this franchise can truly go on forever without getting stale. Jack is such a great character that movies about him can never be boring.

The only disappointing aspect of this movie is the very minimal amount of screen time allotted to Jack the Monkey. That monkey is darn cute and kind of serves as a mascot for these films. Besides it’s a simple fact that monkeys should always have maximum screen time.

ON STRANGER TIDES is a great addition to a great franchise. This movie is not to be missed.

Watch Pirates of the Caribbean 4 On Stranger Tides Youtube Trailer :

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Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

There are few roles in which I like Johnny Depp, but every time he plays an off-beat character, I really enjoy his performance. The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is one such occasion.

Here Depp stars as Jack Sparrow, the famous pirate captain of the Black Pearl who was abandoned on an island by his first mate Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). Through luck, Jack manages to survive and ends up on Port Royal in the Caribbean where he encounters an ongoing soap opera featuring Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightly) the governor's daughter; Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), the son of a former pirate but taken in by the governor, and Norrington (Jack Davenport), the commander in charge of the armed forces on the island who is set to marry the governor's daughter. Jack not only has to deal with the governor and the commander who consider him a thieving pirate, but also with Barbossa and his crew who have now acquired the infamous curse of the Black Pearl.

One of the best aspects of the film is Depp's walk, which people say I mimicked when I was in Thailand and handed a drink which I just took a sip from but made me feel really woozy (there are stories of people drugging foreigners to take their money but fortunately I was with friends). It completely dominates the film. There's also a clever, but predictable, way out of the situation that Jack ends up being thrust in (namely, how does one kill things that can't die). In general the movie is characterised by situations where at first Jack appears to be doing something stupid but in reality is doing something very smart. This leads to some comic relief.

The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was a surprisingly good movie, much better than I expected. I highly recommend checking it out on the big screen.

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The second Harry Potter film is better than the first, not because it is true to the book's story, but because it is true to the book's atmosphere.

The first Harry Potter movie was very good, but it stayed so close to the book that it spread itself too thin trying to get at every single detail. This adaptation of Joanne Rowling's second book (which I think is the weakest among the entire series) does indeed have all the good parts but focuses primarily on the main storyline. The film skips a lot of the background details, which makes for effective pacing, while taking liberties with the story to fit the big screen.

Here Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliff) and his friends, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) once again encounter Voldemort (Christian Coulson) as a memory that has the power to become real. Voldemort opens the Chamber of Secrets freeing a fearsome Basilisk, an Alien-like snake that can kill with a glance. The snake's attacks threaten to close down Hogwarts School and Harry must stop them or be sent home to live with his foster parents (you can understand his motivation when you meet them at the introduction of every book/film).

The film is darker than the first, with scenes that are definitely creepy: Harry's encounter with a strange hand in Diagon Alley, Ron and Harry getting stuck in a willow tree that attacks them with its branches, Harry and Ron escaping from the giant spiders, and Harry's final battle with the Basilisk. There are also some Orwellian themes touched upon here, including Dobby the Elf's masochism and slavery, the ideal of some of the "Purebloods" to cleanse Hogwarts of the "Mudbloods".

The familiar high-profile cast do a fine job, with the newcomers, Kenneth Branagh as the pompous (and hilarious) new Dark Arts teacher Gilderoy Lockhart, and Jason Isaacs as an evil-oozing Lucius Malfoy, particularly standing out. While the child actors carry their roles well, some of them do tend to overact. The score does a great highlighting the suspense, which there exists a lot of.

The set design and accompanying cinematography and production deserves a paragraph of its own. The integration of computer generated images and the actors is very seamless. The Hogwarts school, the surrounding countryside, and the brief Quidditch match are all rendered with amazing reality.

If the first film was the setup, this one's definitely the payoff. Even though I know what happens next, I can't wait to see it.

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Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World

Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World is essentially a rehash of the original. Man messes with nature. Things go wrong. People get eaten. The major difference is in the last part which is quite sophomoric and not at all fitting of Steven Spielberg.

It is four years after the horrific disaster that happened at Jurassic Park. Again, we meet the good doctor, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), no longer at the head of his company but still pulling a few strings behind the back of his son, Peter (Arliss Howard). The original base camp of operations set up by Hammond on Isla Sorna, Site B, still exists and there are living colonies of dinosaurs there. Hammond, who has gone from capitalist to naturalist, wants to observe the creatures in their natural habitat and put to rest years of speculation about the lives of the great animals.

Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) is asked to come on board the team sent to scout the island where the dinosaurs live. He refuses until he learns that his girlfriend, paleontologist Dr. Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore) is already alone on the island. He then becomes part of a rescue mission including himself, photographer Nick Van Owen (Vince Vaughn), equipment specialist Eddie Carr (Richard Schiff), and his daughter Kelly Curtis (Vanessa Lee Chester) who stowed away in the back of the van.

Besides the animals who would like to have humans for din-din, Malcolm's team has to cope with Peter Hammond and Roland Tembo (Pete Postlethwaite). Tembo's goal is to kill a Tyrannosaurus Rex to prove man is the greatest hunter. Peter wants to capture the animals and bring them to the mainland to create "Jurassic Park, San Diego". Bad idea.

Spielberg and company, clearly realising they had a winning formula the last time around, don't deviate very much from it. By the time the Tyrannosaurus Rex gets to San Diego, I couldn't help but thinking I had just seen Jurassic Park again.

What is missing in this movie compared to the original is the intellectual aspect. There's no talk of chaos, no background about how the animals were bred and raised, no delving into evolution about how the animals could overcome their lysine deficiency, and no "this is Unix, I know this stuff!" Viewers are simply expected to have this knowledge, and this means more time for bone crunching effects. As a result, we have a movie that is darker and gorier than the original.

The movie is entertaining and has some interesting messages about cruelty to animals and leaving nature alone to do as it will. See it for the matinee price but don't spend the big bucks on this one. 

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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to translate a book into a movie. The problem has to do with one's imagination: words in a book conjure up images that are highly personal and subjective, and any attempt by a third party to lend form to them ends up disappointing. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is no exception in this regard, but fortunately, the imagery presented is awesome and wondrous in its own right.

The film is made strictly by the book: Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), a young boy mistreated by his foster family, learns that he is special and comes of age... in the Hogwart's School of Magic (!) where he learns wizardry, plays Quidditch and fights an evil despotic wizard (who does not turn out to be his father).

While the movie stays fastidiously true to Joanne Rowling's book, perhaps one of the best adaptations ever, the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words doesn't hold true here. For the most part, from the initial victory of the baby Harry Potter upto the Quidditch match, a lot of the details are skipped. What we're presented with is a jump from one scene to another (sometimes too quickly) that illustrates with painstaking effort the magical realm that Rowling has constructed in her series. For example, while the opening sequence shows Professor Albus Dumbledore (Richard Harris) turning out the lights in a street, Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith) changing to her true form from being a cat, and Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) bringing Harry on his flying motorcycle, we're not really shown the celebration of Lord Voldemort's fall. This isn't criticism but just an observation; in fact, I think doing this is especially okay if one is familiar with the Harry Potter books, but it does impart a sense of urgency in the beginning portions of the film.

I marvelled at how technology enabled the film makers to make possible the wonders of Harry's world, including Diagon Alley and Gringotts Bank, the moving pictures, Hogwarts Castle, the Sorting Hat (Leslie Phillips), the ghosts in the Castle (including a cameo by John Cleese), Fluffy the three-headed dog, the ugly troll, and so on. I believe that it is technology that makes the Harry Potter film authentic, in the same way as in the X-Men or the How the Grinch Stole Christmas movies, by letting at least the imagination of a few people come to life as vibrantly as possible. Most of what I imagined and what was projected on the screen weren't really colinear, but it was still cool, incredibly so at times, to watch.

The movie, however, picked up with the first Quidditch match where Harry, on a broomstick, plays the position of a Seeker after the Golden Snitch, a particularly hard-to-catch ball, which is key to winning a game. The inspired depiction of the game meshed with my imagination extremely well, and from there on, the story of Harry's second encounter with the dark Lord Voldemort (Richard Bremmer) enfolded in a less fragmented and more cohesive manner. The final confrontation, and what Harry and his friends have to do get there, is a delight to watch.

For those paying attention, the main change from the book has to do with how Hagrid's dragon is disposed of and the resulting consequences. The ghosts also play a smaller role here though given the movie's running time, I'm not surprised parts like those were omitted.

The actors playing the young leads give decent performances, with Emma Watson as the know-it-all Hermione Granger standing out. The adult actors aren't given much time but they all present solid performances. The score by John Williams is simple but effective. The set design, cinematography, and visuals are impressive. Director Chris Columbus does a great job of bringing to the big screen the Enid Blyton-like atmosphere that Rowling's books exude.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is a great movie to watch. I viewed it from the perspective of someone who is intimately familiar with the books, and I believe there is strong merit to watching it being completely unfamiliar with the story, a choice I do not have given that I've read the four books a few times. Definitely check it out on the big screen and make sure you goto the bathroom before. 

 

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Spiderman 3

The Spiderman movies have definitely changed the story from the comic book. Watching the first of the film , I wasn't happy with the depiction of Peter Parker as more self-centred and vain, which is unusually in the context of the comic books. At this moment, Peter Park goes through so much crap that it's a wonder he doesn't commit suicide (it's kind of like Jack Bauer in 24).

Some factual points that were changed, which I'll agree was necessary to make a decent movie, are as follows: The Venom costume is an alien being acquired during the Secret Wars battle with the Beyonder (which was one of the best "cosmic" series Marvel has put out). Spiderman doesn't want to kill villains; even when he is beaten and pulverised, he holds back from taking the ultimate step (in fact, it is rare to show people dying in the comic books). Harry Osborn is more like the depiction of Normie Osborn (the son of Harry and Liz Allan) who is friends with the daughter of Spiderman (Spidergirl). Gwen Stacy is killed by the first Green Goblin (Norman Osborn). The people of New York have rarely been on the side of Spiderman. J. Jonah Jameson has always had a point in saying that it is people like Spiderman who create the villains. And so on.

It's difficult for me to reconcile what I know of Spiderman's history with a movie story that does its best and I admire that. A problem with the movies is that they can't intersect with the other characters from the Marvel Universe. It would be great to have movies like the Secret Wars or the Infinity Gauntlet, War, and Crusade series where a bunch of the Marvel superheroes get together and the stories make more sense (for example, explaining the origin of the Venom symbiote), but I guess that would be a logistic and budgetary nightmare.

Halfway through the movie, the story gets in line with what you'd expect from the book. The rejected symbiote bonds with a humiliated Eddie Brock to become Venom, one of the coolest villains to be introduced in the later years. The Sandman is a villain who is ambiguous. And Spiderman has a run of bad luck and is pummeled constantly but triumphs in the end against all odds.

I once wrote a review of the Batman series where I connected them to a lot of the comic books (I own a huge number of Spiderman comic books) and some other reviewer criticised my review. The perspective I offer is fairly unique: it is based on an experience I can't ignore or negative, and I think it helps place the movie in context of a long history of the books. So if you're interested in the saga of Spiderman beyond what you see in the three movies, I recommend buying some of the great story arcs of Spiderman just to see how complicated and mythological the creations are. 

 

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The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is better than its predecessor, and that's a rare occurrence when it comes to Hollywood films.

The story begins where the first film left off: Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) continues on his quest to Mordor to destroy the powerful ring in the same fires of Mount Doom from which it was created. Aiding him, directly and indirectly are, fellow Hobbits Samwise Gamjee (Sean Astin), Meriadoc Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan) and Peregrin Took (Billy Boyd); Gandalf (now) the White (Ian McKellen); Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen); Legolas Greenleaf the elf (Orlando Bloom); Gimli the Dwarf (John Rhys-Davies); and Treebeard the Ent (voice of John Rhys-Davies). Against him are Saruman the White (Christopher Lee) and Sauron the Dark Lord, whose spirit is intertwined with the ring. And a creature whose intentions are ambiguous (quite literally) is Smeagol/Gollum (voiced by Andy Serkis).

The main goal of this episode is to showcase the unleashing of the Saruman's forces to conquer middle earth. The movie actually ends on a positive note, with our friends having the upper hand in the two epic battles--between Saruman's 10,000 strong army and the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Rohan at their Helm's Deep fortress; and between the Ents and Sarmuan's war machine in Isengard--as well as several minor ones.

The cinematography, along with the computer graphics, is awe-inspiring. Gollum is animated brilliantly, so much that I thought he was more convincing than any of the real actors. The CGI in general is state-of-the-art; the only time I could clearly discern the computer generated images was when they had the battle with the Wargs, There is a lot of humour in the film, which shows that nothing in life is worth taking too seriously. The soundtrack, which is reminiscent of old Westerns, is excellent.

It's hard to fault a film that is as well-made as this one. In my view, The Two Towers is best judged on its own merits. While it would help to be familiar with Tolkien's works (including The Hobbit, which really fills in a great deal of the background material), this tale can stand on its own if you use your imagination.

The reason Harry Potter, Star Wars, Star Trek, are such big successes is because of the mythology they create. The Lord of the Rings, which predates these works, is no exception and is one of the richest. The film itself can be described only in superlatives. Go see it. 

 

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The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. This is an old adage that has been the basis for many a story. It is the primary plot device behind John Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings classic. Written in 1954-55, with origins dating back to 1937, the first of the three movie installments, which have already been filmed, tries to stay true to the mystical world present in the book. The resulting effort is a definite success.

The star of the story, and the film, is not a person, but an object, a ring. The ring allows one to control a host of other rings handed down to the different peoples of Middle Earth: three rings belong to the immortal elves; seven to the dwarfs; and nine rings to mortal humans. The ring that rules all the others, forged using the fires of Mount Doom by the evil Wizard Sauron (Sala Baker), gives its holder so much power that it corrupts all those who seek to wear it, even the purest.

Of course, there are some peoples that are more pure than others. Humans generally seem incapable of wearing it without being corrupted by its influence (no surprise there). But there exists a diminutive people, the Hobbits, who do seem at least capable of carrying it without being polluted too much. It falls upon one Hobbit, Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), to take the ring to Mt. Doom, which is the only place where it can be destroyed.

Frodo is aided in his quest by the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen), the elf Legolas Greenleaf (Armando Bloom), the dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), two humans Strider aka Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and Boromir (Sean Bean), and three other Hobbits including Frodo's friend Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin). The story chronicles how Frodo, being a reluctant hero, travels through mysterious and dangerous lands of breathtaking beauty, and fights terrific monsters in the context of awesome towers and citadels, to achieve his goal.

Perhaps one of the most visionary aspects about Tolkien's work is how he set the stage for a Dungeons and Dragons style video-game. Director Peter Jackson imbibes to the film the same feel present the book, in terms of traversing a diverse variety of landscapes, while encountering a diverse variety of creatures, friend and foe alike. Watching the film, it's easy to become mesmerised by the fantasy that is unfolding purely based on the cinematography.

Like with Joanne Rowling's Harry Potter (or for that matter, Stephen King's It), this film does not live up what I imagined, but it does a great job of presenting what Jackson and his co-workers imagined. The special effects are spectacular and meticulously done, perhaps even better than those observed in Harry Potter. There are no cop-outs here and every place that it matters, the effort and the expense have been evidently put in. The soundtrack sometimes overwhelms the dialogue, of which there is a lot, interspersed between the action sequences. Do not miss seeing this on the big screen. This is how movies should be made.

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