Ranking Every Single Middle-Earth Movie From Worst To Best
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
There never will be another fantasy movie that brings its audience into a new world so well as Fellowship of the Ring. If the Two Towers focussed more on building the narrative, and Return of the King was the spectacular conclusion, then Fellowship was the simple guiding hand that prepared you for both.
The cast of Lord of the Rings are some of the most appropriately casted performers in movie history, and from the off-set, it is clear that this version of Middle-Earth will be the definitive one. Everything feels utterly right when you are introduced to the world, as New Zealand is the perfect visual setting, and the roles look precisely as the book would want them to.
Although it doesn't feature the massive battles of its sequels, there is still plenty of action to keep the film exciting, such as the Balrog encounter in the Mines of Moria and the climactic Uruk-Hai raid.
The pure ambition of this film was unbelievable, and it still holds up unfathomably well to this day. For being the start of one of the greatest trilogies in movie history, it will always be remembered as a classic.