[The Saucepan Man]

Willkill4food, please please please stay away from the films - for the sake of your blood pressure. <P>Well, I agree with most of what has been said in response. Excellent post in particular from Elrond of Rivendell. They key point, I think, is this:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> I think the best method of enjoying Peter Jackson's movies is to remind what they are after all: movies. If you want to have a Middle-Earth congruent with Tolkien's writings, then I regret, you have to read the books. There is no other way. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>If you really want to enjoy the films, then you have to accept that these are, in many cases, not the same characters or events that are depicted in the book. They are based on them, but they are not the same. <P>Although I don't consider it a matter of regret that people have to read the book to get the real story. I consider that a good thing. <P>My personal opinion (as someone who has been a fan of the book for over 25 years) is that these films are masterpieces of film-making. They work for me on so many levels. Visually, they bring Middle-earth to life in a way that I never thought would be possible when I first read the book. They have great action sequences. They have characters which (although different from those in the books in many cases) you really care about. And, to my mind, they really are emotionally engaging, particularly the final instalment.<P>I am not saying that they are perfect. But, for me, the imperfections are not in the departures from the book but in the aspects that are not internally consistent or credible within the context of the films. Examples of this, in my opinion, are: <UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>Gandalf's exorcism of Thedoen (which renders Wormtongue obsolete);<LI>Aragorn's cliff diving episode (which is unnecessary);<LI>Frodo offering the Ring to the Nazgul at Osgiliath (which just doesn't work for me);<LI>Gandalf and/or Shadowfax pushing Denethor onto the pyre (which is inconsistent with Gandalf's film character); and<LI>Arwen's life being tied to the fate of the Ring (which is never explained and makes little sense).</UL> Other than these episodes, I have very few complaints about the films. Anything else would be nitpicking, which I feel disinclined to do, given the great enjoyment that I have derived from them.<P>Oh, and on the subject of nitpicking:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> No mention that the Elven rings were made by Celebrindor <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>They were made by Celebrimbor.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> The adition of the wild men attacking parts of Rohan in the begining <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>This happened in the War of the Ring, even though it is not specifically depicted in the Book (like the Battles of the Fords of the Isen ).<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> The love story between Arwen and Aragorn was just plain awful <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Well, correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that Aragron and Arwen loved each other in the book too. And elements of these scenes were taken from their Tale in the Apendices.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> oliphante <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>That's Oliphaunt.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> No Cirdan...now thats just mean, I wanted to see Cirdan <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>He's there at the Grey Havens, standing behind Galadriel and Celeborn.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> Gollum fighting an invisible Frodo just looked too strange <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>I agree, but that's straight from the book.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> Frodo pushing gollum off the edge got me angry <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>He didn't. Frodo tried to get the Ring back. They struggled and both fell off the edge. To my mind, this was a good addition, since it made up for the strangeness of Gollum's struggle with an invisible Frodo.