Essex, only thing with that quote is I think Gandalf had a ligitimate reason to whack Denethor. (Though I've seen it been debated whether Gandalf actually hit him, I seem to think he did). But, Denethor has totally lost his mind at this point and was about to kill his son, hence Gandalf's emergency and no time to dilly-daddle.
Anytime before this, despite their hate for eachother, Gandalf and Denethor were always able to keep themselves atleast respectful and show restraint.
In the movies the main scene I think that comes to mind when Gandalf hits Denethor is when Denethor comes running out and says "Abandon your posts." I don't know about others, but to me this would warrant Gandalf whacking him on the head, he is running out like a mad man telling everyong to flee, Gandalf had to shut him up. The only problem is Gandalf just doesn't hit him once to shut him up he cracks him multiple times. Is there really a reason for this, except for PJ to get people guffawing at "HAHA old mad man gets his butt beat down!"?
When I view this scene, if Gandalf wants to shut Denethor up from screaming all this madness and fleeing, all he'd have to do is hit him over the head once to knock some sense into him. That's what he did, he saw the huge army facing him and he went mad, Gandalf simply had to knock some sense into him. And after the first crack on the head, it seemed like Denethor got his senses back (by just looking at Noble's expression), but no, it doesn't stop, Gandalf (and PJ) have to turn it into a beating (which to me takes it too far). He then jabs him in the stomach, cracks him over the head again and knocks him out. There's no reason for this, I'm surprised Gandalf didn't kick him while he was down and spit on him when walking away.
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Fenris Penguin
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