Flow my tears, the spider said... - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Neurion · 01-21-2005, 06:56 AM

I was disapointed by nearly all of the War of the Ring sequences from RotK. On the one hand, I think that Frodo's half of the story was carried off near-perfectly, but virtually everything I wanted to see in RotK was either cut or changed beyond recognition or coherence. Imrahil, the Knights of Dol Amroth, Denethor (the real one), Beregond and Bergil, Ioreth, Elfhelm, Gondorians who actually act like real Gondorians, and of course Eomer's madness on finding Eowyn and subsequent battle-rage, none of these are on-screen.

What I'm almost beginning to think is that, with the exception of Frodo's Quest, Jackson just about converted RotK into a monster movie, and thus the over-emphasis on the Army of the Dead, Fell Beasts etc.

Essex · 01-21-2005, 08:53 AM

Yes, I agree we miss the Tragedy of Theoden dying right next to Eowyn and not knowing she was there.

Let me explain why this happened movie wise IMO.

In the book, we have time to see Merry and Theoden's relationship grow to a Father / Son type relationship. In the film they did not have the time to do this. i.e. the two friends sitting down discussing the merits of pipe smoking would have slowed the start and middle of the movie down too much. I AM NOT SAYING I AGREE WITH THIS CHANGE, as the scenes between theoden and merry are some of my favourites, esp. Theoden's death scene, but I can understand filmically why it was done

This leads us on to that scene. We HAD to have a death scene for Thedoen, and if we didn't I'm sure there would have been Gandalf Staff like annoyance and much gnashing of teeth if we didn't. The only person Thedoen could talk to with any degrees of feeling was of course his Niece.

On to Eomer. Yes, we didn't have the shot of his rage and madness as he rides off not knowing his sister is alive. But, filmically, I thought the scene with him discovering Eoywn was excellent. The acting in just the look on Karl's face is absolutely STUNNING. (I thought a LOT of superb acting was shown throughout the trilogy by 'looks' alone) This, to me, worked better, as it was shot in a more sedate style, with the Soldiers walking around tending to the wounded and looking for their dead. Also, in this way, we can cut straight to the Houses of Healing Scene.

My main gripe in this area does not come from what Eomer states above, but from the Merry scenes that we could have had, i.e. him going into Minas Tirith and in the Houses of Healing, which always bring a tear to my eye as I read them. And instead of Merry saying to Pippin 'I knew you'd find me', he could have said one of the most memorable lines in the whole book 'Are you going to bury me?' instead.

Ah well.

01-21-2005, 06:56 AM	#1
Neurion Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Standing amidst the slaughter I have wreaked upon the orcs Posts: 258	I was disapointed by nearly all of the War of the Ring sequences from RotK. On the one hand, I think that Frodo's half of the story was carried off near-perfectly, but virtually everything I wanted to see in RotK was either cut or changed beyond recognition or coherence. Imrahil, the Knights of Dol Amroth, Denethor (the real one), Beregond and Bergil, Ioreth, Elfhelm, Gondorians who actually act like real Gondorians, and of course Eomer's madness on finding Eowyn and subsequent battle-rage, none of these are on-screen. What I'm almost beginning to think is that, with the exception of Frodo's Quest, Jackson just about converted RotK into a monster movie, and thus the over-emphasis on the Army of the Dead, Fell Beasts etc. Last edited by Neurion; 01-21-2005 at 08:19 AM.

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01-21-2005, 08:53 AM	#2
Essex Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Essex, England Posts: 886	Yes, I agree we miss the Tragedy of Theoden dying right next to Eowyn and not knowing she was there. Let me explain why this happened movie wise IMO. In the book, we have time to see Merry and Theoden's relationship grow to a Father / Son type relationship. In the film they did not have the time to do this. i.e. the two friends sitting down discussing the merits of pipe smoking would have slowed the start and middle of the movie down too much. I AM NOT SAYING I AGREE WITH THIS CHANGE, as the scenes between theoden and merry are some of my favourites, esp. Theoden's death scene, but I can understand filmically why it was done This leads us on to that scene. We HAD to have a death scene for Thedoen, and if we didn't I'm sure there would have been Gandalf Staff like annoyance and much gnashing of teeth if we didn't. The only person Thedoen could talk to with any degrees of feeling was of course his Niece. On to Eomer. Yes, we didn't have the shot of his rage and madness as he rides off not knowing his sister is alive. But, filmically, I thought the scene with him discovering Eoywn was excellent. The acting in just the look on Karl's face is absolutely STUNNING. (I thought a LOT of superb acting was shown throughout the trilogy by 'looks' alone) This, to me, worked better, as it was shot in a more sedate style, with the Soldiers walking around tending to the wounded and looking for their dead. Also, in this way, we can cut straight to the Houses of Healing Scene. My main gripe in this area does not come from what Eomer states above, but from the Merry scenes that we could have had, i.e. him going into Minas Tirith and in the Houses of Healing, which always bring a tear to my eye as I read them. And instead of Merry saying to Pippin 'I knew you'd find me', he could have said one of the most memorable lines in the whole book 'Are you going to bury me?' instead. Ah well.