What changes do you LIKE? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

davem · 09-21-2007, 08:04 AM

Actually. I liked Theodred's funeral. In the book Theodred's death always felt like an afterthought - it gets one proper mention & then is hardly referred to at all. This scene in the movies felt like it should have been in the book, & is the only addition or change I feel happy about.

For the rest the changes are either silly or unnecessary & usually take up screen time that should have been spent putting Tolkien's story on screen. I noted elsewhere that the writers of the BBC radio adaptation submitted their scripts to CT for approval, & not only did he ok them he even sent a cassette recording of words & names as a pronunciation guide (they also got to use a scene from 'The Hunt for the Ring', where Saruman confronts the Black Riders at Orthanc - perhaps as a reward for their courtesy). I suspect if the movie scriptwriters had done the same thing a) the Estate would have been a bit more positive in its response to the movies, b) the final 'approved' script would have been a darn sight better than it was - the adaptors of the story for radio used about 90% of Tolkien's dialogue, & c) that I would have been a lot happier with the resulting movies.

09-21-2007, 08:04 AM	#2
davem Illustrious Ulair Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties Posts: 4,240	Actually. I liked Theodred's funeral. In the book Theodred's death always felt like an afterthought - it gets one proper mention & then is hardly referred to at all. This scene in the movies felt like it should have been in the book, & is the only addition or change I feel happy about. For the rest the changes are either silly or unnecessary & usually take up screen time that should have been spent putting Tolkien's story on screen. I noted elsewhere that the writers of the BBC radio adaptation submitted their scripts to CT for approval, & not only did he ok them he even sent a cassette recording of words & names as a pronunciation guide (they also got to use a scene from 'The Hunt for the Ring', where Saruman confronts the Black Riders at Orthanc - perhaps as a reward for their courtesy). I suspect if the movie scriptwriters had done the same thing a) the Estate would have been a bit more positive in its response to the movies, b) the final 'approved' script would have been a darn sight better than it was - the adaptors of the story for radio used about 90% of Tolkien's dialogue, & c) that I would have been a lot happier with the resulting movies. __________________ “Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects."