Sauron vs Gandalf and Aragorn in RotK?

[The Saucepan Man]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> I don't doubt that the Sammath Naur will be a great scene, but on its own I don't think it would be enough of a climax to what has been a very long build-up to the final battle. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Yes, as I said previously, I have seen this criticism levelled against this sequence in some of the reports of the preview viewings that I have read. I suspect that Jackson and co's thoughts were along the same lines as those which led them to exclude Shelob from TTT. Apart from the timing issue (Frodo and Sam encounter Shelob at the same time as the Seige of Minas Tirith), Phillipa Boyens makes the point (on one of the Extended Edition documentaries) that a climactic encounter with Shelob intercut with the climactic end to the Battle of Helm's Deep would have detracted from the impact of both. Simlarly, I can see why they may have thought that overloading the Battle at the Morannon with too much drama might detract from the power of the events unfolding at Sammath Naur. At the same time, however, I still think that an encounter between Aragorn and Sauron intercut with the struggle at the Crack of Doom <I>might</I> have worked if done correctly. <P>Still, all I have to do now is reserve judgment on how it will work out on screen for just under 7 days.