[The Saucepan Man]

I have posted my views on the changes in the films too many times on too many threads to repeat them all here. Suffice it to say that I have no problem, per se, with Jackson and co making changes. These films are <I>adaptations</I> of the books, they are not (and never could be) accurate representations of the books. The only changes that I dislike are the ones that don't make sense in the context of the films (and Aragorn being dragged over the cliff by the Hyena-Lemming hybrid is one of those - it was gratuitous).<P>The omission of the Scouring of the Shire has been known (and debated on this forum) for some time. Personally, although it is one of my favourite chapters, I see this as a good decision. A mini-climax following Sauron's defeat would not work well on film following the major climax of Frodo's struggle at Mount Doom and Sauron's defeat.<P>I have no problem with Sauron appearing in physical form in the film, although it remains open to debate whether this will actually happen. Sauron fighting Aragron at the Black Gate, which is another rumour that has been going round, now seems unlikely to happen.<P>The rest of the changes have either since been discredited, or are true but really rather minor.<P>Except, that is, for those involving Saruman and Wormtongue. If only they were true. But things have moved on. It now seems pretty clear that they won't even feature in RotK. <BR><A HREF="http://forum.barrowdowns.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=4&t=002423&p=1" TARGET=_blank>Here is a thread which addresses this.</A> Personally, I think that this is Jackson's biggest mistake so far.