Updated 11 December 2001, 08.23

Hobbits Dominic Monaghan, Elijah Wood & Billy Boyd

The wizard Gandalf

Elijah Wood, who plays the main character Frodo the hobbit, was there, along with Sir Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Sean Bean and Ian Holm.

Sir Ian, who plays the wizard Gandalf, said: "It's indisputably a landmark in movie history. It's biblical."

Christopher Lee, who plays Saruman, said: "I think it will go down in cinema history - this and the next two - because no one has ever seen anything like it."

Quest against evil

The Fellowship of the Ring is the first of three movies to be released in the £200m adaptation of JRR Tolkien's epic trilogy, the Lord of the Rings.

Elijah Wood (l) and Dominic Monaghan (r)

The next two episodes, The Two Towers and The Return of the King, will follow over the next two years.

Together, they tell the story of young Frodo the hobbit, who joins a wise wizard, Gandalf, to save the world from a powerful ring which has fallen into evil hands.

We've seen it already!

It's already had rave reviews from critics, and CBBC Newsround Online also caught a sneaky preview before the premiere.

We can reveal that The Fellowship of the Ring is a cracking movie, full of thrills and adventure. Hold onto your seats though, there are some well scary moments.

It's now set for a magical battle with rival movie and record-breaker Harry Potter..

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