I've Totally Seen That Movie Before

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) Director: Peter Jackson Cast:  Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, John Rhys-Davies, Sean Bean, Hugo Weaving, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Ian Holm Writers:  J.R.R. Tolkien (novels), Fran Walsh (screenplay), Philippa Boyens (screenplay), Peter Jackson (screenplay) Synopsis: The young Hobbit named Frodo Baggins (Wood), along with his loyal servant Samwise (Astin) and his cousins Merry (Monaghan) and Pippin (Boyd), leave the comforts of their home in the Shire to embark upon a dangerous quest to destroy The One Ring, an artifact of great evil that could bring about the destruction of Middle Earth. Frodo and company are joined by the wizard Gandalf (McKellan), Strider (Mortensen), the ranger, as well as Boromir (Bean) the warrior, Legolas (Bloom) the elf and the stout dwarf Gimli (Rhys-Davies). Together the fellowship must brave p...

The 13th Warrior (1999) Director:  John McTiernan, Michael Crichton Cast: Antonio Banderas, Diane Venora,  Dennis Storhøi, Vladimir Kulich, Omar Sharif Writers:  Michael Crichton (novel), William Wisher (screenplay), Warren Lewis (screenplay) Synopsis: Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan (Banderas) falls in love with a powerful man's wife and is sent by the Caliph from Baghdad to serve as ambassador in a far away country. On the way to his new post, he encounters a Viking encampment led by Buliwyf (Kulich). During his visit with the Norsemen, Ahmed becomes unwittingly embroiled in a quest to rid a distant kingdom of a great and ancient evil.  First Impressions: I saw this movie in theaters when it was released in 1999. It appealed to me for a couple of reasons, I had read the book the movie was based on and, as I've mentioned a few times now, I am a big fan of the fantasy genre. I remember enjoying the movie on first viewing mostly because I love stories ab...

Enemy at the Gates (2001) Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud Cast: Jude Law, Ed Harris, Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Bob Hoskins, Ron Perlman Writers:  Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard Synopsis: During the Battle for Stalingrad, political officer Danilov (Fiennes) turns a young Russian sniper named Vassili Zaytsev (Law) into a folk hero and a symbol of Soviet resistance against the Nazis for his sharpshooting abilities. The Nazis, unused to fighting a war against guerrilla tactics, call in their own sharpshooter, Major  König (Harris) to hunt down and kill Zaytsev. What follows is a cat and mouse game as each sniper attempts to out-think the other and gain the upper hand set against  the backdrop of one of the most brutal battles or the war.  First Impressions: I saw this movie in theaters when it was released and I remember enjoying it quite a bit. The early part of the aughts saw quite a few movies about the former Soviet Union and this...

Black Hawk Down (2001) Director: Ridley Scott Cast:  Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana, William Fichtner, Ewen Bremner, Sam Shepard, Ron Eldard, Jeremy Piven, Jason Isaacs, Johnny Strong, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Orlando Bloom Writers:  Mark Bowden (book), Ken Nolan (screenplay) Synopsis: In October 1993, the U.S. Army Rangers and Delta Force stationed in Somolia to help provide humanitarian aid are sent on a raid into the heart of the city of Mogadishu to capture two top Lieutenants of the local warlord. The raid was only supposed to take a half and hour but after one of the Army's Black Hawk helicopters is shot down, the  mission takes a turn for the worse. The movie follows a number of troops on the ground including Sgt. Eversman (Hartnett), Cpl. Grimes (McGregor) and Hoot (Bana) as they not only try to protect the injured trapped in the downed chopper but also try to survive the night as thousands Somali militia try to kill them. Fir...