So close to the books

Rating: 9/10 (20 November 2005)

Being a die-hard Tolkien fan since my single digit years I have held on tight to my personal images of what Middle Earth is, what it looks like and who inhabits it. When Ralph Backshi came up with his misguided attempt at the trilogy my worst fears were realized, no one could make a film of Tolkien's work, at least not a good film. When Peter Jackson got the rights I was skeptical. How could any one artist envision Middle Earth in a way that could satisfy the multitudes of fans? I was stunned when I saw the film. It was a mixture of Tolkien's own drawings, the Hildibrant calendar art and the pictures in my own mind. How did he do it? Even the colors were desaturated just enough to give the world a serious and menacing tone. Had the colors been too bright it may have come off like those many Michael Moorcock/Terry Brooks style Fantasy epics of the 1980s like Willow and Dragon Slayer, (Too wave the magic wand, too fairy dust and D&D for Tolkien). Granted, Peter Jackson choose to make the world a slightly more dismal place than I imagined it, always pointing towards the drama of Sauruman and the foul births of the Uruk Hai, but I understand how he needed to make a gripping film, and how my images of comrades and hearty adventure was not enough to drive the action of such an epic movie. The Elves were the only near misses for me. Just a little too Star Trek-monotone for my taste (magical in an almost sterile way as opposed to being artists, lovers and the passionate livers of a huge life). But it's one small thing. Overall Peter Jackson created a world that was respectful and serious enough for the a vast majority of Tolkien fanatics to accept it as the visualization of their own imaginings.