[Lord of Angmar]

Before I revive this thread, I would like to say that I have the utmost respect for Peter Jackson and would not be nearly as big of a revived Tolkienite today as I am if it were not for his extraordinary films.<P>I do however, see many examples of dumbing down, which is unfortunate but I am sure necessary in many cases from a marketing perspective.<P>In the book chapter "The Council of Elrond," it is made apparent that Boromir does not know what happened to the One Ring, nor do any others in Gondor, or indeed in all of Middle Earth circa the War of the Ring. It is made clear that only a few besides Isildur and Elrond knew that the Ring was cut from Sauron's hands and taken by Isildur. Yet in the movie, Boromir knows the lore of the Ring, as evidenced by his remarks about the picture of Isildur and Sauron that hangs from the wall in the House of Elrond. It seems to me that there is no purpose for Boromir knowing, as it would add to the mystery of the Ring if not even the proud leaders of Gondor knew of the Ring (as was the case in the book).<P>Also, Elrond's stance on Aragorn in <I>The Two Towers</I> is not only dumbed down but somewhat nonsensical. Elrond urges Arwen to forsake Aragorn and thus, Middle Earth. This does not make sense in the context of the Council of Elrond. Also, at the time of the War of the Ring, Elrond had never been to Valinor, and had lived for thousands and thousands of years in Middle Earth. It seems illogical and un-Elvish that he would be so eager to utterly forsake it, especially if only to keep his daughter from her true love? <P>In the books, one can gather the sense that Elrond loves Middle Earth greatly, and is truly torn about his daughter's fate. In the movie, we get the sense that he is only doing what is best for himself and what (he thinks) is best for his daughter. This change in character subtlety from the books to the movies suggests a degree of 'dumbing-down'.<p>[ October 19, 2003: Message edited by: Lord of Angmar ]