[Kuruharan]

I think that a degree of condensation of the story could be done and a series of movies could still be true to the books.

What gets me is some of the alterations in the movie. Most of them struck me as a little...odd. Aside from the fact that you want more screen time of the Elves, why in the world would you...well, anyway. (I mean Elves! BAH! We needed more screen time of Dwarves! That's what we needed! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img])

I think that PJ could have done a better job if he had kept more to the tone and character (or in some cases, characters) of the books. He clearly could not include everything.

I also think that the success (looked at from the perspective of staying true to the book) of a film depends on the personality of the individual making it. Not to mention the differing goals of a author and a film-maker.

Example: (This may be clouded by personal opinion) I believe that Tolkien would have objected strongly to Bombadil's unfortunate axing from the film. Tom is (partially) a statement on Tolkien's view of power, an important theme in the Trilogy. PJ canned that part in order to get the plot moving.

In this particular instance there was a difference between the goals of the writer and the goals of the director. The trueness to the books suffered for it.

However, that's just an example. I still manage to believe that a truer version could be out there. Alas, I'm not likely to see it.