The "Possible Perils" of Special Effects

[Lalwendë]

I always have a preference for TV adaptations purely as there is more time to devote to the stories they are portraying. For me, getting over all the detail and nuance of the novel is important, and is possibly why I am always just a little unsatisfied with book adaptations. I think it was the limits of time involved with film which led to the limits in scriptwriting and hence to the limitations of the film.

However, TV adaptations are not always blessed with large budgets and it takes real skill to make a visually effective adaptation on limited money. One of the features of LOTR is that it needed decent effects - I cannot quite wipe from my mind the fear I had that they would resort to using children as Hobbits or some such cost-cutting scheme. I was pleased that someone with imagination and skill had taken the reigns. And ultimately, despite all of my grumblings, these are films I can watch many times over!

The strange thing is that one major factor in the success of the films not always considered, was the acting, which I found excellent - in the main. In particular, Ian McKellen, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee and Sean Bean. With the quality of their acting, the films could (almost) have gotten away with being made on the most limited of budgets!