[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by SpM

Hmm, may be I am missing something, but there appears to be much wailing and gnashing of teeth here over what seem to me to be some fairly trivial issues.

Hey, is this not the Downs equivalent of pedants' corner? I thought some nitpicking (in a constructive, critical sense of course...) would be the order of the day, counteracting our gushing appreciations.

Originally Posted by Mister Underhill

I think what Lal is saying (correct me if I'm wrong, Lal), is that the sequence is edited in such a way as to make you think a Nazgûl got to Bag End ahead of Gandalf --
"There's no Bagginses here. They're all up in Hobbiton... that way!"
Songs and beers and table-talk at the inn.
Frodo staggers home -- it's creepy in there -- OMG! Is that black-robed dude there waiting for him?
Ahh! Oh, no, it's just Gandalf. Don't jump out of the shadows like that Gandalf, you nearly gave me a heart attack.
Frodo digs out the Ring.
Gandalf throws it in the fire. It's the Ring. Hoo-boy, it's gonna be good when that black-cloacked dude gets there. Should be any second now...
Wait, they're having tea? What's with all this talking? C'mon, black-cloaked dude, use your spurs or something.
Oh -- there's the wraith, and now he's got a buddy. Sweet! Go ahead and pack, Frodo, you're toast.
Sam, you want some too? Okay, black-cloaked dude attack imminent...
It's morning? Did the black-cloaked dudes decide to stop at a motel and catch some shuteye, or...?

Yes, that's exactly it. It does give the impression that the Ringwraiths are slightly incompetent at hunting down the ring. They've been given Gollum's information which only seems to lack a postcode, and all they have to do is scare a few Hobbits who seem more than willing to give up Frodo's whereabouts. Couple this with the impression already put across that The Shire may well be little more than a village, it seems a bit surprising that the Ringwraiths are in reality quite a long way off Bag End.

I don't mind the tension of the 'Gandalf grab' moment quite so much, but it is the sense of the passage of time which is all wrong to me. Yes, Frodo does only have a narrow escape in the books, but he does know that he has to go for a long while in advance. one of the reasons he is so tardy is that he is 'still in love with the Shire', as Bilbo put it in a previous scene. So Film Frodo is forcibly ejected from his home while Book Frodo is left to his own devices and only just makes it.

Originally Posted by Esty

One of the displays I most enjoyed at the LotR Exhibition (which I saw in Houston this summer) was that of the various books, rolls, etc. from the Minas Tirith library. It was amazing to see the details of those documents - written in various scripts and handwritings, different languages, bound or rolled or flat. Some could be read, including Isildur's account, if I remember rightly. Even though the various papers and parchments appeared only briefly, they were made as if they had a genuine historical background. Wonderful!

That would have been a splendid job, to make props for the film! I would have been an expert in making old documents as I spent many an hour at primary school making 'authentic treasure maps' by taking my newly crayoned map, burning the edges and then soaking the lot in tea to stain it.