Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by thegage (A) on December 20, 2001 at 05:59:40

In Reply to: Re: Lord of the Rings! posted by anson on December 19, 2001 at 13:34:37:

Although I've read the books at least five times, I didn't find myself comparing the movie to them much at all. I think Peter Jackson did a fantastic job bringing his vision of the book to the screen.

My main criticism concerns the editing. Many of the transitions did not seem to me very good, but were often jarring. I'm not talking about the kind of jump cutting that these days passes for skillful work but more often than not gives me a head-ache and makes me turn away from the screen (see another post here for my theory about that!), but edits that seemed as if there was a slight bit of "something" missing that would have linked the shots better. It's more of a "feeling" than a strict technical issue--or maybe it is all about technique.

Well, OK, a couple of other niggles: a few too many digital "flyovers" that call attention to themselves (But, hey, if directing is all about control, what director won't give in to the chance to make an entire shot EXACTLY as he wants it?), and I spent a lot of the beginning of the movie (and sporadically throughout) noticing how well (or not--when the digital stitching was obvious) Jackson integrated the actors at their appropriate sizes (but that's my problem).

All in all that won't stop me from going back for another showing!

John K.