Reviews

Anything You Can Imagine: Peter Jackson and the Making of Middle-Earth by Ian Nathan

michaelwinstonclark's review against another edition

funny informative inspiring slow-paced

4.0

Even more detailed than I wanted

aniagajecka's review against another edition

informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

I missed the description of making Hobbit, choosing actors for it, etc. in a more detailed way, like it was done in the first part of the book concerning LOTR. 

tomstbr's review against another edition

5.0

Outstanding, might be my favourite read of the year. The audiobook narrator certainly helped. These are some of my favourite movies of all time and going back to the period, hearing about the dealings of the contract and how to make the script work and all the hardships that came about before and during production was just fascinating to hear. Very entertaining, the author was there from basically the start. Just so many lovely details about the writing, the concept, the PASSION, the actors, the MUSIC, the edits, the prequel follow-up, just everything.

emmabone's review against another edition

informative inspiring lighthearted slow-paced

5.0

What can I say - I love peter jackson and mf LOVE LOTR

eyleen's review against another edition

3.0

3,5 stars.
Big parts of this book were really interesting, but I feel like it just was A LOT ;)
I felt like I would never finish this.
Also I had the impression that this was not written by a "real" author, but by a huge LotR nerd, who did not know too much about pacing and about structuring a book.
A lot of knowledge about Jackson and the movies is just presumed. I did not have that and was for example very surprised when in a side note Jackson suddenly had two little kids with this one lady I thought was just his friend and creative partner. So..yes...structuring would be nice ;)
But I learned a lot and I am currently re-watching the movies.

hedwig2's review against another edition

funny informative

3.75

mgm1303's review against another edition

5.0

Wow. I loved this book so much.

tufriel's review against another edition

4.0

A book that takes you through Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit in great detail (which felt far too much at times). Fans will appreciate narrations of behind the scenes goings on, revelations and triumphs. It made me go back to watch the LOTR appendices and dig up YouTube videos of their Oscar wins. Might even read the books again.

john_bridges's review against another edition

4.0

An engrossing account of the epic journey that Peter Jackson and company undertook to make the Lord of the Rings films, and the impact those movies had on the industry and the hitherto little noticed country of New Zealand. I'm a huge fan of the original material, and while I adored the movies at the time they were released, time has dimmed my admiration just a little (only a little -- I still like to watch the Extended Editions regularly). I still think they were an almost miraculous occurrence, from the decision to make three films (a brave risk, well heralded in this book) to the perfect casting (the story behind Aragorn being one of the more interesting accounts here) to the sumptuous production design by long time Tolkien illustrators Alan Lee and John Howe (interviewed throughout this book). The story of how that miracle happened is naturally an interesting one, and the author was there along the way, reporting for Empire magazine at the time, and it's clear he has his own respect for the source material. I think my own regard for Jackson's Middle Earth was sabotaged by his treatment of the Hobbit, from the poor decision (imho) to stretch it into a full trilogy (like butter spread across too much bread) to the uneven tone -- is it a slapstick comedy? a grim foreshadowing of LoTR? hey, why not both Jackson seems to have proclaimed; I mean seriously, Howard Shore could as easily have scored that rabbit sled chase to Yakkity Sax. The development of the Hobbit trilogy naturally gets less attention here by the time the first trilogy has had its full account, and probably mercifully so. I would love to someday see something of the art and script developed under Guillermo Del Toro's watch, and I suppose we'll all have to wonder if his version would have been worse or better than Jackson's. This book doesn't undertake to answer that question. The author is clearly an admirer of Jackson, and while that allows him some close access, I think it also causes him to give short shrift to some more problematic issues like the actor's dispute and the ensuing changing of NZ law to favor Jackson. I would have liked to understand the ramifications of that better, but I suppose it was a sidepath from the main story the author set out to tell. In the end, this account, with its view into Hollywood politics and business practices and its chronicle of a Kiwi indie filmmaker's development into a global powerhouse director is a worthy one. I listened to the audiobook version, and the narrator did a fine job, even injecting imitations of the people involved when narrating their own words. His Ian McKellan was particularly good.

fallingletters's review against another edition

4.0

Anything You Can Imagine made a great read when when I was in a slump a couple weeks back. Although it's massive, it's compulsively readable. Nathan explores the grand scale logistics of getting the films made, often from the business side of things (as opposed to the kind of 'making of' you see in the film appendices). The narrative tone is similar to an engaging magazine article. Lots of quotes from various people involved. Nathan appropriately focuses on The Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit doesn't enter the narrative until about 500 pages in. I suspect a lot of the information in this book could be found elsewhere, but I learned a lot from it, such as: why the rights were so tricky to get (and exactly how Weinstein was involved...), how the cast was pinned down, and why Jackson wasn't originally set to direct The Hobbit. A must read for fans of the movies.