Smell this, I think it's expired...

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by SpM

But, they were not well-disciplined (when were Orcs ever so) and the ferocity of the charge and the feyness (is that a word?) of the Riders struck fear into them and brought about their disarray. That seems to me to be pretty much how it happened in the film too.

The orcs in the film seemed very well disciplined to me, scarily so at times. Which would probably make the charge of the Rohirrim even more 'wrong' and incorrect in terms of tactics. But in any case I particularly like Theoden's stirring speech, even if it is wrong tactically.

I liked FotR the best of all the films too, but I have a theory about it... I think that as it was the first film, and bearing in mind that PJ had spent huge sums of money and it had to be a success, it was much more carefully made than the following two films. The story seemed more coherent and it was clear that more attention had been paid to this. It was also important to establish this as a trilogy which had quality, and not least of all, to appeal to the Tolkien fans. Let's face it, LotR was an unusual prospect for a film and if the Tolkien fans did not like it then it was not likely that everyone else would go to see it. There have been several cases of big money adaptations of cult stories and comic books which have not met with the approval of the fans of the originals, and have therefore been deemed not to be good (e.g. Tank Girl, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). After success was assured, PJ was free to add a little more of his own vision.