10 Smartest Decisions In Fantasy Movie History

Making its second appearance on this list, the men and women behind the Lord of the Rings Trilogy also made some great decisions behind the scenes.

With production beginning in 1997 and filming in 1999, the trilogy's fantasy setting would have most likely been easiest to create through digital means, but Peter Jackson and co. decided against leaning too heavily on CGI or computerized visuals.

Instead, the trilogy was shot using mostly practical effects, make-up, prosthetics and perspective tricks to bring the characters and settings to life.

The result is gorgeous, and holds up well two decades later. There are places in which the CGI used has dated, but they are so few and far between that they don't break the audience's immersion in the rich world of Middle Earth.

Had Jackson taken the arguably easier option of computerizing much of the world and its inhabitants, it's easy to see how the movies may not have stood the test of time in quite the same manner.

Instead, we have a timeless trilogy that has been gracing our screens regularly for the years since its release.