Re: The Official "The Hobbit" movie thread
I know, and its one of the coolest scenes in FOTR. I'll take a brilliantly executed liberty over a less than great scene copied from the pages of the book.
Fair enough. And I actually agree.
The scene at the Ford was very well done and it was a clever way to develop Arwen's character while simultaneously not having to introduce another bit part (Glorfindel). Now if they would have sent Arwen to the Battle of Helm's Deep like they originally planed to I would have been pissed...
What I don't agree with is calling the scene with Eowyn "a less than great scene copied from the pages of the book."
Another example of a "a brilliantly executed liberty" for me is towards the end of FOTR when Aragorn meets up with Frodo just before he slips away. Frodo is holding out the ring (almost) offering it to him. And Aragorn says something like 'I would have followed you to Mordor' and then closes Frodo's hand around the ring. It's actually that scene that makes me accept the weakness of Faramir as portrayed in TT. They gave Faramir's strength to resist the ring to Aragorn, which was probably a good choice as:
1) Aragorn is more of a "hero" figure in the eyes of the average movie goer.
2) It's immediately after Boromir tries to take the ring so it's fresh in people's mind when the contrast is drawn.
LIke I said to Khev I just don't have a problem with it. It plays out really how it played out in my head reading the books so many times. I didn't have the scream per say but I can't imagine someone not doing that either.
Thank you.
Again, I feel she was acting in character, and most of us manly men would probably scream in that situation as well. It was her last ounce of strength, and it was a more than daunting stroke against the most terrifying foe she could ever hope to meet. A defiant battle cry seems most appropriate to me.
There are, however, two things about the Eowyn/Witch King scene that do bug me a little:
1) They interrupt the scene, intercutting it with other scenes of battle if I remember right. I notice that every time I see it. I wish they had let the whole exchange play out in one sequence.
2) We know it is Eowyn from the start. There is no way around this for a film so I'm not suggesting they should have done something different, but in the book we first know this character on the Pelennor Fields as Dernhelm. The reader has the realization at the same time as the Witch King that this is a woman. Powerful stuff the first time reading it.
Its a change I have no problem with at all. Its a nice way to introduce Arwen and her importance within the story as things go on. There is a definite balance that needs to be done between keeping the heart of the book within the movie. PJ did that amazingly well in the TE but even more so within the EE.
Agreed. With fans of the book in mind, the EE have that perfect balance.
However, for the average movie goers I can see why the TE would be viewed as the better films in terms of editing, etc.
TE, EE . . .it's all good to me. Any version of more is always good in my book. Where I would feel utter disappointment is if after seeing either TE or EE, that the person still hasn't ventured to read the books! If anything bugged me in the EE, it's how they killed off Saruman . . .as that implied we'd never see him reincarnated as Sharkey.
There were two things I knew we would never see in the films:
1) Tom Bombadil/Old Forest stuff
2) The Scouring of the Shire
I knew we would never see "Sharkey", so I was actually totally okay with how they killed him. I mean Wormtongue killed him (as in the book) and it was done in a dramatic way. What more could we ask for?
Josh has another gift that starts with Middle that he wants to give to the folks who have problems with the EE
