What changes do you LIKE?
 

There have been many posts regarding what people do not like about Jackson's adaptation, so I would like to start a discussion regarding what changes one liked that Jackson did.

I know many will disagree with me, but I, for one, had no problem with the fight scene between Saruman and Gandalf that led to Gandalf's capture. In the book, Gandalf glossed over how it happened, but his pride was hurt because he had never been captured before. "Caught like a fly in a spider's web," I believe he said. And remember, he had actually ventured into Moria previously, but more importantly, he had gone into Dol Guldur when Sauron was there, and still he had emerged uncaptured. And he said that Dol Guldur was worse than Moria. So what Jackson did in the movies did not bother me at all. In fact, I had always pictured something like this happening myself when I had read the books, for I could not see Gandalf just go willingly to prison without a fight. Although I do not have the books in front of me, it seems that I recall him telling the council that "They placed me in the highest pinnacle" or something to that effect, which made me believe there had to have been some kind of struggle.

I also had no problem with Jackson putting the words of Tom Bombadil verbatim into the mouth of Treebeard as he rescued the two young hobbits from Old Man Willow.;)

Actually. I liked Theodred's funeral. In the book Theodred's death always felt like an afterthought - it gets one proper mention & then is hardly referred to at all. This scene in the movies felt like it should have been in the book, & is the only addition or change I feel happy about.

For the rest the changes are either silly or unnecessary & usually take up screen time that should have been spent putting Tolkien's story on screen. I noted elsewhere that the writers of the BBC radio adaptation submitted their scripts to CT for approval, & not only did he ok them he even sent a cassette recording of words & names as a pronunciation guide (they also got to use a scene from 'The Hunt for the Ring', where Saruman confronts the Black Riders at Orthanc - perhaps as a reward for their courtesy). I suspect if the movie scriptwriters had done the same thing a) the Estate would have been a bit more positive in its response to the movies, b) the final 'approved' script would have been a darn sight better than it was - the adaptors of the story for radio used about 90% of Tolkien's dialogue, & c) that I would have been a lot happier with the resulting movies.

I thought it worked well for PJ & Co to take Gandalf's speech about Eowyn in the Houses of Healing and put it into Wormtongue's mouth by Theodred's deathbed. Besides the fact that it was Actual Genuine Tolkien, and that prob. it wouldn't have made it in in its proper place, it gives the audience an insight into Eowyn's troubled mind before all that ensues, rather than in the aftermath.

I liked the redesigned ending to FOTR. To this day the book's ending has always been very confusing and a bit unsatisfactory - a lot of dialogue, events taking place 'off screen' and POV changes - and I think Boromir's death should have been put into the first book (I'm guesing a lot of this is down to Tolkien intending to have it as one book).

The movie made the Amon Hen sequence brilliant. The final moment between Aragorn and Frodo, the brutally energetic battle with the Uruk Hai, the sadness and frustration of seeing Boromir slowly going down with the arrows in him whilst he continued to fight, Aragorn's bloody duel with Lurtz, Sam and Frodo departing together and the Three Hunters deciding to save Merry and Pippin are all excellently performed and filmed. Definitely an improvement on the book I'd say.

I would have to say that I find myself nodding in agreement to what has been written so far. I found Theodred's death scene quite moving, and gave a better insight to the people of Rohan. I really enjoyed the way the simbelmyne (sorry if I misspelled it - the books are not in front of me) were shown to grow immediately over his fresh grave.

I did not have any problem with lines from the book being given to other characters, maybe because they were not altered otherwise, as was said about Wormtongue and Treebeard saying in the movie what someone else had said in the book. I thought it was perfectly acceptable for Gandalf to give his "far green country" speech to encourage and strengthen Pippin before the battle in Minas tirith, and yet what he said was not spoken, but only written as Frodo was reaching Elvenhome in the book.

For that matter, I do not even have a problem with Pippin and Merry setting off the dragon fireworks in the movie as it did nothing really to change their characters, although those of us who read the book know this did nto happen.

By the way, I did think Jackson and Co. did an excellent job with Gandalf's fireworks, and how they showed the sheer joy demonstrated by Gandalf as he was setting them off for the little people he loved so much.

Merry

I'm glad the Tom Bombadil and the Old Forest were apparently entirely removed, they've always been my least favorite part of the books, and not much happened to further the story really, in my opinion (except the swords that the hobbits recieved, but I'm sure they could have found them elsewhere in the story). Tom was a somewhat interesting character, but I'm certainly glad I didn't have to sit through an extra 5 or 10 minutes of film for the story to pick up.
For that matter, Frodo's entire journey to Rivendell was a lot swifter and nerve wracking to a film audience; somehow Frodo waiting 17 years before leaving, and moving slowly across the Shire being slowly haunted by the Nazgul wouldn't have worked in a film.

I'm not one to generally complain at Peter Jackson's effort at the story, what people seem to forget is that he put many hours worth of reading into a 3 hour film, and so changes were necessary. I try to keep the film and books as seperate art pieces, and I think they were both well done (the books, however, remaining significantly better :p).

I find it fascinating that I see so many people saying the beginning of the LotR is their least favorite part of the books. It is only fascinating to me because the beginning of the tale, when it is only the hobbits by themselves as they journey to Bree, has always been my favorite part of the books!

I first began reading FotR when I was 12 years old, just coming out of a coma, and lying in bed with all types of monitors attached to my body in a room in the intensive care unit of a hospital, being treated for a little known disease at that time called Reyes Syndrome. I had no television and no radio, and nothing but time on my hands, so when my older brother brought me his copy of FotR I fell in love with it immediately, devouring it. To me, it seemde to have plenty of action, and in just the right amount of doses.

I know this was a bit off-topic, but since I started the thread, I guess I won't complain!:cool:

I like it when Merry and Pippin go to Edoras and then Pippin left...I mean I don't like it like it, but It's "better" as you will than in the books... In the movies Pippin leaves and it's tragic and it always makes me cry. But in the books it's just like oh bye Pippin see you later. That's why I like the movie version better in that aspect. Although the books are always better than the movies, and yes I do think so too even though I watched the movies first.

I'd definitely have to agree with that - also the fact that (despite TTT being excruciatingly boring without its beginning and end) Shelob was moved to ROTK. I had the three-volume book when I first read LotR, but I recall my friend Kayla owned only the first two volumes... when she got to the end of TTT she threw the book against the wall and yelled "Oh, great! Now I get to wait until Monday so I can go to the bookstore to find out what happens to Frodo!"

I'm kind of split on one scene: mostly in the EE, but during RotK, when Denethor tells Faramir he should have died rather than Boromir. Given, it's a beautiful, sad scene, and David Wenham is fabulous. But the context of the scene is not "I hate you, my son, go die." It's more like... "If you're not as stubborn and strong as your brother was, we're all going to die," and Denethor used it in a frustrated, provocative sense in front of Gandalf and half the court. I like the scene... I just feel angry that Faramir is made so dependent on his father's approval.

I like the fact that in the movie Aragorn gets to kill a few orcs at Amon Hen and he doesn't just come crashing through the trees and underbrush yelling "Elendil!" in time to see Boromir die...

Anyway...that was an actual improvement, instead of just adapting from book to movie.

I'll read through the thread now. :)

-- Folwren

I guess I would have to say that I also enjoyed the fight scene with the Rohirrim and the wargs and Orcs. That is, until Aragorn went over the cliff.

I also enjoyed the funeral for Theoden.

Merry

The arrival of the elves at Helm's Deep. Anything else just helps me better understand why it is good for my health that I wasn't around the Tolkien boards when the movies discussion began.

There's one minor change I'd like to add here, the line about the dead Southron in Ithilien, which was given from Sam to Faramir.
I like the different tone this line obtains when given to a soldier. It also fits the character of Faramir (movie as well as book) very well.

I liked the changing of Boromir's character, and his death scene. I also liked (blasphemy!) the elves at Helm's Deep. I had no problem with Bombadil's removal.

I agree with much that is written here, although the elves at Helm's Deep is blasphemy (in my opinion) but its ok to disagree. Taking dialogue and moving it from one character to another I think was good since it allowed the movie's to keep that character. For example, the words given to Treebeard from Tom Bombadil help to keep something from Bombadil in the movies even though his character was removed.

As many have said, the books are still better, but there is one point where the movies may have a slight edge. That is, the movies allowed the story to be told in real time more so than the books. This is especially an issue during TTT and RoTK when there are two separate story lines, those being Frodo and Sam in Mordor, and the rest of the Fellowship in Rohan and Gondor. During the development of the movies, much care was put into having both story lines run parallel to each other so that as the movies went back and forth between them, the events would be occurring beside each other in the timeline as they would have occurred. Tolkien's books just follow one or the other, where he stays with one story line and moves it ahead, and then goes back in time to pick up the other story line and run it ahead, and so on.