Lord of the Rings vs. Star Wars
Jean Tang

A lot can happen in 25 years, and in the high-flying, high-budgeted realm of action moviemaking, a lot has. So much, in fact, that the seminal movie of a generation, "Star Wars," really does seem like it came out a long, long time ago, from a galaxy far, far away. Yet the 1977 icon, still one of the top 10 earning films ever, continues to be revered by its fans as one of the all-time greats.

Enter Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," hyped as the "Star Wars" for a new generation, complete with two more films in the can and action figures already on the racks. The movie's rocket start at the box office -- $205 million after 19 days and more than $350 million worldwide -- is fueled by a massive fan base for J.R.R. Tolkien's 20th century "Lord of the Rings" books. The numbers coincide with critical acclaim: The CGI-loaded fantasy is everything that makes a contemporary Hollywood action film notable. It has an epic story, it's visually stunning and it has a transporting imagination behind it that gives the action life. The first installment of the three-part series remains faithful to the spirit of Tolkien's novel. By and large, even the fanatics seem pleased.

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