Ian's Lord of the Rings Reviews - Brian Sibley Making of the Movie Trilogy Book

Brian Sibley "The Making of the Movie Trilogy"
		First off, a disclaimer: One of the problems with reviewing a book by a friend or colleague is that it can be a bit of a lose-lose situation for the reviewer.
		Write something complimentary and the concensus is you've done it because "they're friends you know - the review's not worth the paper it's written on". Write anything less than ecstatic and there's a slight risk you might turn a good friend into an enemy for life (sadly, I've been there and done that! ;-)). Fortunately, in this instance, the author has delivered a book that leaves me in a win-win situation.
A quick two-word review of this book would read as follows: "It's wonderful!"
Brian Sibley comes with an excellent pedigree of course: author of numerous movie tie-in books, he is perhaps best known to Tolkien fans for his 13 hour BBC adaptation of the radio series of "The Lord of the Rings" and for being a broadcaster of some excellent documentaries on J.R.R.T. and his various works. Sibley's first book on the Middle-Earth movies, "The Official Movie Guide", released this time last year, has become the de rigeur fan accessory - as witnessed by the number of copies in evidence at fan conventions and signing events around the world, where it functions as the ultimate autograph book starter kit!

This second volume is a very different book from the first. Where the first was a gentle, but impressive, introduction to the Fellowship of the Ring and the cast and the crew, this second volume is a much more detailed, in-depth look at just how much determination, passion and sheer hard work was required to get the finished films showing to ecstatic audiences around the world. In short: if you liked the first book you're going to love this one! It's also a much more personal book than the first and, as such, the ultimate fan read - you'll not only see some amazing pictures (over 300 of them - nearly all of them new and the vast majority of them exclusive to this publication), but you'll read some amazing accounts of what was required of people to get these movies made. Most importantly of all, you'll feel you're actually there alongside Brian, whether it's on a very personal tour of the Weta effects, weaponry and make-up studios, a helicopter excursion around the film locations used, attendance at the teaser screening at the Cannes film festival or exclusive "back stage access" to the film's premieres in London and Wellington. It is a book that is very hard to put down once started and, as such, should carry a warning: Don't try and read this in one sitting, instead indulge yourself over time! Reading from page 1 through page 192 in one go would be akin to walking into your local patisserie and trying to gorge everything on offer over a lunch break. It's a wonderful keepsake you'll want to refer back to in years to come. And if you're one of those fans who thinks they've read everything there is to read on the movies, whether it's through reading endless Internet web sites, fan club magazine interviews or collecting back issues of the Cinefex industry effects magazine you're in for some pleasant surprises here!
Each page brings some new revelation, some account that makes you go "ooh" at the sheer dedication of those involved. That this is so, is partly down to those interviewed of course, but mostly, I think, down to Sibley, who won't settle for anything less than perfection when it comes to research and writing. I can't think of anyone else who would have had me reading two pages about trees and had me as excited at the end of it as if I'd just done a bungee jump off Victoria Falls.

		Not that those who prefer a lighter read, or who are a bit less "fanatical" about the minutae of production, need worry - jokey interviews with the likes of Dom and Billy (Merry and Pippin), cast comments on the performance of Elijah Wood, premiere attendance celebrity photo's and numerous other goodies are amongst the many items to keep you interested right the way through the book. Sibley clearly used his time in New Zealand to great effect, interviewing literally hundreds of people involved in work on the movie, producing hours of interview footage, and whittling away at all those interviews to produce the volume we have here (the chapter listing at the end of this review gives an idea as to how comprehensive the areas covered are). I started reading this book slightly jealous of his chance to see the movie production at first hand, I finished it thankful that it was him who'd made the trip and not I, as it became clear just how much hard work he must have gone through to produce the end results we have here - tirelessly interviewing and cherry-picking the best bits to give us our own "edited highlights" of what it must have been like to work on the movie. In the hands of a lesser author such source material would come to naught but a rather dry series of fact and figures. But Brian somehow turns that into an account filled with as much passion and excitement as the original film makers clearly had for the project they had embarked upon. Time and time again, across its twelve elaborate chapters and associated "feature pull out" sections, the book gives concrete examples of what people have achieved by believing in themselves and their dreams, no matter how great the odds stacked against them seemed to be. It's a wonderfully positive, life-affirming book and one cannot help but be impressed - even those who might have seen the movie but not liked it.
This review is in danger of turning into a rather unhealthy hero-worship piece, and "Surely", I can hear you thinking, "it can't be that good". Well I'm afraid to say, it can! If you forced me to be picky, I'd admit that the foreward, by Sir Ian McKellen, is pretty lacklustre, that there are a few typo's in the book (personally I blame that proof-reader chappie named in the last paragraph of page 191 ;-)) and that one or two of the larger photo's look like they were sourced from second-generation scans. But that really is being picky and is of little real importance here.

Ultimately this book is a real celebration of a breath-taking achievement. We are lucky indeed to have had Peter Jackson selected as the director to bring Tolkien's books to the big screen. We are equally lucky to have had Brian Sibley selected to be the official chronicler of the process of making that happen. I can't think of anyone with more integrity, passion and the sheer ability required to write a book such as this, than Brian. There is to be a third (and final) book in the series, focusing on the writing process and the roles of Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens. The news that publication of this third book is, at the author's request, being delayed until September 2004, to allow the required research work and interviews needed to maintain the quality standards set by this book to be completed, will be a disappointment to some. It is a move that will undoubtedly impact the author and publishing company's possible royalties as it won't have the marketing machine of the third movie to help spur sales, but is entirely typical, in my experience, of the author's integrity and desire to produce the best work possible, even if that is a financially less secure route. By any standards both the movie franchise as a whole, and this book chronicling how the franchise came to be completed, are incredible achievements. At twice the asking price this hardback volume would be good value, at Ł17.99 it's an absolute steal!
Essential!
Contents: Foreward by Sir Ian McKellen, Prologue: The Long-expected Party, 1. Workshop of Wonders, 2. Locating Middle-Earth 3. Setting the Scene, 4. It's a Small World, 5. Department Store for Middle-Earth, 6. Regal Robes and Big Girls' Frocks, 7. Waging the War of the Ring, 8. Hobbit Hair and Wizard Whiskers, 9. Making Faces, 10. Filming a Masterpiece, 11. Adding the Magic, 12. Knowing the Score, Epilogue: An End and a Beginning
Published by Harper Collins (UK). Hardback. 192 pages. Full Colour. Ł17.99. ISBN 0-00-712302-7. Also available in paperback.


Email: ian@iansmith.co.uk