[Boromir88]

Thanks for the information about Ray Harryhausen Bethberry and Lal. I remember watching Jackson's King Kong part way but never being able to get all the way through it. It felt way too long. I did watch Heavenly Creatures once, which is probably his best movie besides the LOTR films.

Before Lord of the Rings, Jackson was primarily known for his low-budget horror films and gore. Those never really interested me to watch, but what I did like about his experience in those films (and why I think Fellowship of the Ring is the best movie he's done) is he knows how to work with a limited special effects budget. So, with the Fellowship, I don't know quite the words I'm searching for, it looked grittier, more real. He relied on clever camera tricks and props to change the scale and make the hobbit actors appear smaller than Gandalf. Making the tallest actor, John Rhys-Davies look like one of the shortest characters. But as we get into TTT and ROTK, and definitely all The Hobbit films, he relied more and more on CGI and you can tell a big difference in the quality of the films.