Jackson took over the fantasy epic when director Guillermo Del Toro bailed, leaving him to sort out the plot and design of the film on the fly. According to newly released director’s commentary on the Battle of the Five Armies DVD, the confusion left Jackson struggling to make decisions about filming major scenes without having a fully formed storyboard or, at times, a finalized script. Production suffered, leading to the delayed release of The Battle of the Five Armies and, one might boldly venture, to the overall feeling of vertigo it induced in fans of Tolkien’s original novel. And hey, I’m no purist: just a Rankin-Bass loyalist.