PJ's LOTR--Not fantastic enough?

[Lalwendë]

Well I wouldn't call Braveheart realistic in any way. It was basically Mel Gibson's fevered fantasy vision of Scotland and William Wallace.

But I did love the vision of Middle-earth as portrayed in the films. The designs of sets and costumes were about perfect, and no small detail was missed, from the tree of Gondor on Boromir's vambraces to the clutter of Bag End. This owed a lot to the designs of Alan Lee and John Howe though, two Tolkien illustrators that I admired long before the films came out. And because I love their work then what I saw in this vision of Middle-earth was probably bound to satisfy.

As for the scenery...if anything it was a bit too grand and fantastical for me. My mental image of the Misty Mountains is less Kiwi peaks and more Lakeland fells. This is one thing I've enjoyed about the HBO production of A Game Of Thrones - they filmed in Northern Ireland, which is a landscape much more suited to my imagination