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Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man
I cannot imagine a film of LotR which would not rely heavily on special effects (although Bethberry would probably disagree  ).
Generally, I think that the effects were excellent throughout all three films (but then again, I am an SFX fan). Where there is a problem with them, I don't think it is a consequence of their over-use, but rather of the manner in which they are used. . . . |
Well now,
SaucePanMan, why ever would you think I might disagree? After all, I am a publically-declared
Star Wars fan. Nor, in fact, am I a 'Middle-earth Purist."
I do agree with you that is it not the prevalence of SFX which might be the question, but the quality of the particular special effects. Two in particular I found, for me, unconvincing. And I am quite willing to acknowledge that this is a matter of personal, subjective taste.
The first is Galadriel's "Dark Queen" scene. I cannot help but compare it to Gandalf the Grey's temptation scene, which to me was far more "believable." That is, it seemed in keeping with the wizard's character without appearing to satisfy any visual pyrotechnics. (I supposed the fireworks scene amounted to Gandalf's pyrotechnics.
) I cannot fathom why Blanchett was preempted for special effects unless it was simply to wow us with special effects. And that, I think, it a misuse of SFX.
The second SFX which in many ways disappointed me was--and I am fully aware that I am likely a minority of one in this regard--in fact Gollem. It is not that I think the CGI was poorly done or overdone, as with Galadriel. It is because I have seen a human actor on stage recreate Gollem spendidly. The actor was not only a talented actor, but an exceptional gymnast. Perhaps I might even say contortionist. His performance made me feel I was in the presence of real
art, real 'subcreation', to use one of Tolkien's terms. I could not erradicate my memory of this performance as I watched what I knew was a different kind of art, a technical/computer device to mimic a character. Wonderful as this CGI Gollem was, I remained rooted in the perception that this was a neat CGI, rather than a stunning visual effect which could not easily or effectively be created by mere human presence.
There was one other aspect of the SFX, come to think of it (and yes I know this makes three) that disappointed me. It was every time a creature reminded me of a creature in
Star Wars. Here I will mention the Moria troll. There were others as well. The movements, shapes, and sizes many of the other special effects creatures in fact did not make me think of Middle-earth, but of the Ice Planet Hoth, or, well, I shouldn't go on.
I guess in part my 'definition' or appreciation of art involves illusion, or magic, or slight of hand, the substitution of something to make me imagine something else, rather than a full scale depiction of the alterity. Where the SFX gave me the imagined illusion of Middle earth, I loved them. Where they made me think of themselves as technical procedure, or previous SFX, then, for me, they failed.
As for the various orcs, well, the more I realised I was being asked to relegate them to the side of evil because of their disgusting physical abnormalities, the more I became uneasy with the suggestion that evil has a counterpart in physical deformity. I could not overcome my (modern? contemporary?) moral understanding that evil takes many forms, not all of them having a clear correlation with physical appearance. Sometimes, for me, beauty holds a terror. There were moments when the movie, because it is such a complete recreation of image, made me uncomfortable for its suggestiveness. And, interestingly, that is something I never felt, for instance, about the famous bar scene in the original
Star Wars.
Chaq'une ŕ sa gout.