J.R.R. Tolkien's world of hobbits, elves, dwarves, wizards and humans is brought to the screen in this first installment of the popular saga. The story revolves around the efforts of a young hobbit to prevent an evil Lord from acquiring a magic ring and using its considerable powers to enslave the world. The hobbit and his companions plan to cast it into a volcanic fire, thereby destroying it; but the ring unleashes its own power as a result of the struggle. With Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Sean Bean and Ian Holm. [2:58]

SEX/NUDITY 1 - A man and woman kiss tenderly. Young people are shown dancing during a celebration.

VIOLENCE/GORE 7 - There are many battles between humans and disparate types of evil and scary-looking creatures; some have yellow eyes and pointed teeth. There's a creepy looking creature that has a gravely voice. Several scary creatures have red eyes, pointed teeth, walk like monkeys and snarl. They topple trees and dig a huge hole in the earth and uncover a nasty, growling creature that grows out of slime in the ground. The armies of the dark forces are slimy skinned, have pointed teeth, yellow eyes and growl like animals. An army of men does battle with a dark lord and his minions: swords and other sharp weapons are everywhere, and bodies are strewn all over. During a one-on-one fight between the leader of the humans and the dark lord a man is flung against rocks and dies; another wields his sword lopping off the finger of the dark lord, who then disintegrates into a pile of ashes and sends a shock wave across the field obliterating the rest of his army -- we see the finger lopping scene a few more times. There is a fight scene between a man and several other men, with swords slashing and flaming torches swinging back and forth (a few of the fighters go up in flames); one character falls back, disappears and is stabbed by an evil spirit (he reappears screaming and we see him later near death, with a bloody wound and pale eyes with streaks of purple). A young man is grabbed by the leg by a tentacled creature that comes out of a lake, it swings him around and upside down and we see its mouth with large pointed teeth; men slash at it with swords and cut off a few of its tentacles and it chases them into a cave where the walls crumble and the rubble separates them. An enormous cave troll crashes through a doorway and begins attacking a group of men swinging a huge hammer-like weapon with spikes on it. A man jumps on its head and shoots it with arrows, it lunges and roars at a young man, grabs him by the leg, a man stabs the troll in the chest, the young man falls to the ground and the troll stabs him (he seems dead). Two young men jump on the troll's back stabbing it in the head, a man shoots the troll in the mouth with an arrow and the troll falls hard to the ground, dead. Men in a cave are trapped in a room and hear creatures approaching (screaming, trampling and drumming), arrows fly past their heads, a sword fight breaks out, an evil creature is stabbed in the eye with an arrow, there's a beheading, and evil creatures swing chains. A man fights with one of the creatures with swords, he stabs it in the leg, but is then pinned to a tree with a piece of metal around his neck -- he has a bloody mouth. A creature is stabbed in the abdomen, and a man cuts its arm off and then cuts its head off -- we see the separation and the appendages falling to the ground. A man fights with a number of creatures, slashing them with a sword and many are slain with arrows; another man fights with another group of creatures and he's hit in the chest with an arrow. He is shot again and we see him die. A group of men are chased by a large, flaming, creature with horns, glowing eyes, pointed teeth and a flaming whip: one man faces off with this creature, the creature falls into an abyss grabbing the man's leg with the whip and dragging him over the side with it. A woman and young man on horseback are chased by riders; the woman is slashed across the cheek with a sword. A horse charges toward a man, the rider draws his sword and swings and we assume that the man has been beheaded although we don't see it. Two men fight using long sticks that emit bolts of power knocking them both around; they both have bloody faces and one is sent flying straight up. We see a creature lashed to a table being tortured, and we hear it screaming. A group of riders are washed away by raging water. A man is seen floating dead in a stream with several arrows sticking out of his back, and there's some blood in the water as well. A group of men with swords drawn stand over beds where they think people are sleeping and bring the swords down repeatedly. A group of men walk along a narrow ledge and rocks from above begin to tumble down on them. A man rides his horse through a door which lands on top of a man on the other side. We see huge black horses with red tinged eyes carrying heavily cloaked men, in many scenes; whenever we see these black riders we hear eerie screams and whinnies. These riders chase a group of young men and nearly catch them in several tense scenes. Millipedes and spiders begin to crawl all over several young men. A man's face changes: he grows bulging eyes and pointed teeth and growls. A man yells at, threatens and lunges at a young man, grabs his leg and pulls him down. A woman glows, turns menacing and her voice thunders. Two men argue violently and one of them grows larger and his voice thunders. Two young men are carried off by a group of large creatures. A man touches the blade of a sword and cuts his finger; we see a bit of blood. A man jumps on a man and knocks him off his horse, and a young man goes into some water but cannot swim so he goes under and nearly drowns. A young man imagines his village in flames. A huge flock of birds flies toward and threatens a group of men who hide among rocks. A man relates a story to a group of children about a troll "eating us and squashing us to jelly." We see a menacing looking castle with moats of lava around it. A man hits a young man with a sword, the young man kicks him and another young man knocks him down. A woman holds a knife to a man's throat and a group of men are surrounded by men and threatened with arrows. A group of men enter a cave and the floor is littered with skeletons with arrows in them. There's talk of a massacre, and we see the bones of a spine on the floor of a cave. Two young men light some fireworks; the explosion blows them back to the ground and leaves them with charred faces, and a flaming winged dragon flies over the heads of a panicking crowd. A man grabs a boy and slams him on a table threatening him, and a man bumps his head on a chandelier and a ceiling beam. Two young men are tackled by two other young men as they run away from a farmer swinging a sickle; they all run and fall over a ledge landing on top of each other. A huge army of creatures gets suited up in armor and paint their faces readying for an attack; we hear them growling. A man is flung back and forth on top of a high tower, nearly falls and then jumps on the back of a huge bird. When a young man puts a ring on his finger he disappears and apparently travels to a sort of dark spirit world where he sees the eye of evil (a flaming ring).

LANGUAGE 1 - Though unclear, it is possible that there was one scatological term.

SUBSTANCE USE - Some characters are shown drinking ale at a party and then later in a pub.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Mythical creatures (dwarves, elves, goblins, hobbits, wizards), the supernatural, good vs. evil, legends, immortality, greed, leaving home, war, fate.

MESSAGE - Evil cannot take over those who are strong in character and pure of heart. What we do with the time that we are given is what determines who we are.