[Elladan and Elrohir]

Hey, what do you know! It's Gandalf the Black again! This guy hasn't been around in a while. I believe his first appearance came in FOTR, when he shot down Gimli's idea about going through Moria. Well, here he is again. This time, he attempts to shoot down 'Gorn's idea to march on the Black Gate. And once again, whose idea was that in the book? Elementary, my dear G.

I actually kind of like this change as it shows Aragorn's independence from Gandalf. Especially since we don't have G counseling 'Gorn not to use the palantir.

And there's good ol' Leggy, delivering the line that made him Captain Obvious: "A diversion."

And does it strike anyone as odd that Gandalf mentions 10,000 orcs now standing between Frodo and Mount Doom? That's as many as Saruman sent to Helm's Deep, but despite the conflicting reports of the filmmakers, we know that somewhere between 100,000 and 600,000 orcs came to Pelennor Fields. So doesn't 10,000 seem a bit low?

I too really would have loved to see Sam (and then Sam and Frodo) facing off against the Two Watchers. They look so cool, and you can tell from the way the shots are cut that there is some sort of encounter in there that didn't make it to even the extended version. We know from PJ and Co. that that sequence was filmed; maybe we'll see it in the Super Duper Deluxe Deluxe Ultra-High Def Mother of All Lord of the Rings Extra Extended Limited Edition.

The part where Sam is tempted by the Ring is awesome, perfectly acted by Sean Astin. Tolkien's description in the book of Sam's temptation, brilliantly achieved in a different setting, would look ridiculous on film; what they have is great.