Light & Magic

While the first episodes (and especially the opening one) go in depth, are about professionals dealing with practical details, developments, splits, pitfalls, the second half slides on the surface because it oscillates between many directions. It tries to do the same through milestones by flying through the world, but there is no longer enough space. And so it's not even really about the technology, the people, the painful transition to digitalisation of processes, the evolution of ILM from a garage company to a corporate juggernaut – it bites into everything, but nothing gets a good chomp. The first episodes are interesting even for the very well-informed, the later ones don't bring anything beyond the well-known information from the DVD bonuses. The dramaturgical incongruity is best illustrated by the last episode, the half is about the milestone and the split of CGI and practical effects during the making of Jurassic Park versus the smiling back-patting and marketing video for the "virtual on-set pre-production." This is of course a fascinating advancement and technology, but on the one hand it's not there yet, and it's not about the technology, but it’s ranting about itself, the people, the world, the corporation; it doesn’t fit at all into the concept. So, if you are interested in how people "back then" created those breathtaking scenes that are still breathtaking today, through the use of cogs, skillful hands, forced perspective, etc., you have come to the right place. But count on the fact that after the initial episodes, those moments are few and far between. Likewise if you are interested in ILM as a company. The first episodes tell you about a bunch of people who did the impossible on a shoestring and casually grew a company around them that became a household name, but the later episodes no longer address ILM as an institution at all. And so it is with everything else. Something in depth and at a distance, something barely mentioned and at the level of promotional videos for the company website in the "references" section. Anyway, at least the opening episode is a definite "must see" for any fans of behind the scenes cinema, no question about it. (2022.10.06)