[Saurreg]

Ah yes, the infamous charge of the Gondorians. One of the most contrived parts of the film. Makes the Charge of the Light Brigade look like a brilliant masterstroke (at least the brits made it to the Russian guns and gave some great slaughter before being overwhelmed).

Cavalry + entrenched enemy + unsuitable terrain = PJ's vision of tragic glory.

Stupidity more like it. Poor Faramir's character got really really butchered here. Instead of being the gentle, highly intelligent but tragic hero that girls love and boys emulate, he comes across in the movies as a reckless crybaby who threw common sense and tactics into the winds because daddy didn't love him. As you can tell by my bitterness, Faramir was one of my favourite characters.

But I did like Mckellan's Gandalf during the procession of the dead through the streets of Minas Tirith.

"Your father loves you... Don't throw away your life so recklessly."

The earnest plead, the tremor in the voice and that pleading look. Now that was the Gandalf of the books as I always imagined him to be.