Lord of the Rings

Title: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellon, Christopher Lee
Rank: 50

There is one extremely significant difference I have found between The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and every other movie on AFI's list that I've watched so far: This film does not belong on the list!

Whether or not I personally like a film that I watch for this project, I always try to watch the film objectively and write about it fairly as to why it is on the list. There have not been many films for this project so far that I have not liked, but the few that I didn't care for I was still able to find a reason that it had earned a place on AFI's list. With The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring there is absolutely no good reason I can think for its presence on the list.

I tried to find a reason, though, but I just couldn't justify this movie being on there. I thought maybe it's because of the story, but it was a book first and therefore the movie isn't the main medium for the tale. Then I thought about the fact that it is an epic movie, but there are already several other (much better) epic films on the list. Perhaps it's on the list because of the visual effects, but there are so many other films that could've been on the list that have much more astounding visual effects. It's definitely not on the list for the acting, because although the performances for the most part are just fine, I've seen just about all these actors in other features give much stronger performances to much more memorable characters.

Then I thought "Maybe The Lord of the Rings is on the list because of how much money it's made, and how popular it is." That thought was quickly tossed aside. The list is the "100 Greatest Movies of All Time" not the "Most Popular Movies of All Time" or "The Highest-Grossing Movies of All Time." If it were based on popularity or gross, then on the 2017 list we'd be seeing such films as The Hangover, Twilight, Transformers, and Shrek 2. While those may be popular and high-grossing movies, frankly, they don't deserve a place on the "100 Greatest Movies" list.

So why was The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring included in AFI's list? I still don't have an answer for that, and probably never will. I've tried to watch this movie several times over the years, but it just doesn't hold my interest. Sure, it's a finely made movie, but it feels more as though it was made for people who were already fans of the book and the stories. There's a abundance of elements to the story, and it's easy to get lost and not follow along if you are not already familiar with it. I didn't enjoy this movie, nor have I ever in the few times I've tried to sit through it. I don't hate the movie, I just do not care for it. The only thing that I did enjoy about this film was the sets and the visual effects, but like I said, there's tons of other movies that have amazing visual effects that are much more deserving to be on AFI's list.

Trivia:
•This is the only film on AFI's list that was made after the turn of the millennium. All of the other films are 1999 and before.

Movies to Go: 76