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High expectations for the movie about the 'Ring' By
Bryce Casselman When I was a kid, I remember looking through my older brother's bookcase and spending time looking at the covers to a series of books that had the large lettering of J.R.R. Tolkien on the bindings. Although I did not read them as a youngster or even as a teen, I always knew that there was something special about those books. Then, as I approached the close of my third decade on this earth, I found myself in a creative non-fiction writing class where I had the assignment to read a biography and as I searched the shelves of a bookstore, I the name I had memorized as a child staring back at me. Upon reading the book, I not only found out that Tolkien was an extremely interesting person, but that The Lord of the Rings books were the culmination of a lifetime of his interests, musings and work. Tolkien did not set out to write a masterpiece, but began the story to entertain his children, and it grew into one of the most original and comprehensive works of fantasy ever written. Now, director Peter Jackson (The Frighteners, Forgotten Silver) has taken up the charge of bringing the epic tale to the silver screen in the form of three movies, which he is filming back to back. According to a movie review by Lisa Schwarzbaum from Entertainment Weekly's EW.com, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring "Would appear to embrace Tolkien's classic with love and delight, and rewards both adepts and novices with the highest compliment of all: an intelligence and artistry as a movie independent of blind fidelity to the page." The film stars Elijah Wood (Deep Impact, The Faculty) as Frodo Baggins, Ian McKellen (Gods and Monsters, The X-Men) as the wizard Gandalf, Viggo Mortensen (A Perfect Murder, 28 Days) as Aragorn, Sean Austin (Bulworth, Rudy) as Samwise Gamgee, Liv Tyler (Dr. T and the Women, One Night at McCool's) as Arwen UndÁmiel, and Cate Blanchett (The Talented Mr. Ripley, Bandits). The Fellowship of the Ring is a story about a unlikely hero, Frodo Baggins, who is asked to take a magic ring, which was born of evil, and journey to the place of its origin to destroy it. While on his quest he is joined by close friend, cunning warriors, nimble elves and a powerful wizard as they travel through perilous lands and places and battling powerful and terrifying enemies. Jackson has flown his cast and crew around the world to capture the perfect settings for Tolkien's masterpiece and promises to bring a film that is complex, visually rich and massive in scope.
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