The Balrog of Moria, to me, was always darker, more sinister. Not beastlike at all, but almost...noble, in an evil kind of way. Proud. And I think one of its most terrifying qualities was its assured silence. No threats, no bad guy wit, just a purely dark being with a countenance so stark and devoid of any kind of 'nonsense' that it chilled me more than any other creature in Tolkien's writings.
The movie balrog was cool, sure, but everytime I heard its Jurassic Park T-Rex impression I lost a little more respect for it, and every time its blackness was betrayed by excessive amounts of flame and fireworks I saw the utter nightmare of a supremely wicked enemy cheapened in predictable blockbuster film fashion.
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