[Elladan and Elrohir]

Hey cool, I get to be the first to reply!

I've never really understood why they changed Gandalf so that he is now reluctant to go to Moria, instead of being the one to suggest it with Aragorn playing cautious. Of course, I haven't seen any BTS documentaries or commentaries for FOTR EE, so I don't know whether PJ and Co. explain the reasoning behind the change, or not.

Howard Shore's score is awesome throughout this sequence, especially, of course, in "The Ring Goes South."

As alatar has pointed out, Frodo is made the little kid once again in this sequence. He's a great candidate for "character who has changed most from the book". I may actually go start a poll like that in the main forum.

I love the scene with Boromir, Merry and Pippin. Not only is it heartwarming, but it also establishes a connection between this Man and these two Hobbits, which will come back later as he heroically runs in slo-mo to save them from Uruk-Hai.

Saruman being the one to cause the storm on Caradhras is, of course, a change from the book, where the cause is either the ill will of the mountain itself, or just possibly the work of Sauron. This change is, of course, in keeping with the emphasis the first two movies place on White Wizard #1.

I also really love the Boromir-Frodo-Aragorn scene (even though it demeans Frodo), because it's a great way of showing (again) the Ring's temptation of Boromir, and it also builds tension between Boromir and Aragorn.