Put your clothes back on, I need to tell you about the Finnish TV series version of Lord of The Rings from the 90's, where Boromir has a side shave with a snake tattooed to it. His hair is tied in a bun with two hair sticks. He wields a katana.
It was funded by the Finnish national broadcaster, and features (as far as I understand) a star studded cast, because it was based on a theatre production of the same name, "Hobitit". Be not mistaken, the production value is... cozy. The wigs are the worst offence but filming the entire thing in studio was a choice, concidering all of the scenes that take place in nature.
Because the series follows the perspective of the hobbits (while narrated by Sam!!) the pacing is INSANE. The episodes follow as such: 1. Bilbo 2. The Road 3. The Old Forest 4. The Pranching Pony 5. Strider 6. Lorien 7. Mordor 8. Mount Doom 9. Liberation.
The entire thing can be found captioned on YouTube, since the original broadcaster has failed to get the rights to broadcast the series since 1997 or something. My dad showed this to me when I was about eight but I rediscovered it recently.
Believe me, watching this with friends is a delight. The special effects are a farce, incredible to laugh at, but some of the acting beats and the storytelling made it very heartfelt in the end.
Tom Bombadil makes a beautiful entrance. There is a random musical number in the middle, even though the vibe is VERY nordically gloomy. They don't even attempt to make the hobbits look shorter than the rest of the cast. Gollum's actor makes some strong commitments to character. What more can I even say?
