MOVIE: The Fellowship of the Ring [Part One]

Discussion of The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring [Extended Edition] We’re finally here! Join Cam and Maggie for a spirited discussion of the first half (roughly) of the Fellowship movie (For those following along at home, the first hour and twenty-four minutes). We watched everything through what we’ve read in the book, and boy is Viggo Mortensen a total babe. He is more Aragorn than the book Aragorn. Stunning! We break down all the changes from the book and their effects on the story. This movie is an interpretation of Tolkien’s work, but we argue that its writers are also wonderful editors of the source text. They maintain and even occasionally improve the pacing / dramatic stakes of Fellowship. There’s not a single whiff of Tom Bombadil! Gandalf is absolved of his war crimes! We actually cut away from the hobbits to check in on Gandalf – and the Black Riders! – and Saruman! And we even get Arwen early, taking the place of poor Zinfandel. It’s a humdinger of a movie, and we measure it against the book and all of our long-running funky theories about color palettes and narrators. In our Second Breakfast, we do a quick retrospective on Book One of Fellowship, now that we’re truly done with it. Were we satisfied? Was it a horror movie? If we were just reading this book for fun, would we want to keep reading? Maggie ends with a pretty striking take on the story so far, and then Cam compliments The Mandalorian and asks if Kylo Ren is Snape. Have an observation, comment or theory on this episode? Email us at [email protected] Follow us on Instagram @secondbreakfastpod