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A review by mattgoldberg
Anything You Can Imagine: Peter Jackson and the Making of Middle-earth by Ian Nathan
2.0
I don’t want to be mean because this book was a thoughtful gift from a dear friend. I love the LOTR movies (The Hobbit trilogy less so).
I gobbled up the first 100-150 pages of this and then once it got into the production, I found my interest waning. By the end, I was grateful to be done with it. So what happened?
I think the book pulls you in because of history and conflict. You’re curious to know how this landmark of fantasy literature was previously attempted and then you have the various studio conflicts of whether or not Jackson can get the movies made.
But once it’s in production, there’s not much conflict left, and so much behind-the-scenes storytelling feels unnecessary when we were blessed with the copious bonus features on the Extended Editions.
The largest problem is that Nathan stops coming across as a journalist and feels more like a publicist. A majority of the book simply feels like reading press notes, the tidy summations you’re given at junkets to let you know how awesome everything was when making this movie. You can definitely feel Nathan smoothing out the ruffles when he gets around to The Hobbit, which probably should have been its own book, but you get the sense that the author now sees himself as a part of the team rather than someone who can provide a sense of objectivity. So major issues like the tax breaks granted and the NZ union steamrolled are quickly passed by.
I love books about the making of movies, and I love the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but this was a surprising letdown.
I gobbled up the first 100-150 pages of this and then once it got into the production, I found my interest waning. By the end, I was grateful to be done with it. So what happened?
I think the book pulls you in because of history and conflict. You’re curious to know how this landmark of fantasy literature was previously attempted and then you have the various studio conflicts of whether or not Jackson can get the movies made.
But once it’s in production, there’s not much conflict left, and so much behind-the-scenes storytelling feels unnecessary when we were blessed with the copious bonus features on the Extended Editions.
The largest problem is that Nathan stops coming across as a journalist and feels more like a publicist. A majority of the book simply feels like reading press notes, the tidy summations you’re given at junkets to let you know how awesome everything was when making this movie. You can definitely feel Nathan smoothing out the ruffles when he gets around to The Hobbit, which probably should have been its own book, but you get the sense that the author now sees himself as a part of the team rather than someone who can provide a sense of objectivity. So major issues like the tax breaks granted and the NZ union steamrolled are quickly passed by.
I love books about the making of movies, and I love the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but this was a surprising letdown.