[Glenethor]

Not in this case. However, you have a really good movie of what is arguably the best piece of 20th century literature. And that makes it special in and of itself. What we are seeing with PJ <I>et al</I> is fan fic mixed with the text, although parts of that text may be compressed or moved. The question arises, were the screenwriters' imaginations up to the task? Were the themes and characters that they chose to develop at the expense of other ones the <I>right</I> ones? Sometimes JRR is a little dry in his description of cataclysmic events, and in others, he is very intense, but that reserve doesn't drop often (and when I say 'reserved', I mean in relation to someone like, say, Stephen King, who goes over the top as a matter of course). I think the increase in intensity from the combination of visual sensory overload and a music score that is written specifically to intensify the emotional responses to that visual stimuli will give you a <I>different</I> experience than reading the book...(<I>whew!</I>)<P>The short answer is 'no.' Different, but not better.<BR> <P>There are instances where the movies do transcend the books: The Godfather is definitely the most obvious case.<P>What were we talking about?<BR> <P>[ February 27, 2002: Message edited for spellink by: Glenethor ]<p>[ February 27, 2002: Message edited by: Glenethor ]