Amator

Sarah, welcome to the forums!

Since you're a new member, you might not be aware of the spoiler feature so when people read a thread that promises spoiler-free discussion(as this one does) the rest of the series isn't ruined for them if they haven't read the books.

Put whatever spoiler text between these two tags [*spoiler] text [*/spoiler] without the *.

The part you mention should be sad, but even moreso when One part of ROTK that always gave me chills is

I hope PJ knocks this one out of the park.

al_bundy

I personally can't wait to see how they do the Battle of Pelennor Fields. Tolkien described it much better than Helm's Deep.

Giles

Yeah. let's hope Jackson will do likewise. I think I am one of the few who was very underwhelmed about Helm's Deep. I was expecting way too much, the ferocity of the battle just felt lacking.

Even though Jackson has stated in the past that he took liberties with the story for "The Two Towers", it seems like he will make some slight changes for "Return of the King" as well. Particularily with the omission of the "The scouring of the shire" -pertanent character exposition was placed by Jackson elsewhere within in the film.

Josh H

Well, to be fair, there's only so much "ferocity" you can depict in a PG-13 movie.

chess

both the scouring of the shire and the grey havens felt sort of tacked on to me. i can't see reaching a climax like that in a film and then running on for another 45 minutes of farewells, fighting relatively inconsequential (at that point anyway) enemies, and character exposition.

maybe in a book, but not on film. i think PJ has the right idea sticking to the two core stories (the king and the ring) and leaving out the things that have no place in progressing those two elements.

Inverse

I dunno, I think the ending of the book LOTR is a great example of why the climax is *not* the same thing as the conclusion in dramatic structure. The reason the Scouring of the Shire is in there is that (spoilers for the book):



I can see the bind Jackson was in, though. While spending 20 minutes on the Scouring of the Shire might make a great conclusion to the complete ten hour film The Lord of the Rings, it would be a very odd, prolonged conclusion to the three hour film The Return of the King.

You have to leave the Grey Havens in, though. It's essential to both the meaning and the heart of the story.

Amator

I may be in the minority, but I think the hobbit storyline is just as important as the Aragorn storyline if not moreso. Personally, I feel Sam is the most important character in the entire book.

Inverse

In the book, Aragorn isn't even really a major character. He does *do* lots of things, but we never share his point of view or his thoughts. He's someone we see at a distance, not someone we experience the events through.

Movie Aragorn is obviously quite different.

Giles

You know, the fact of the matter is that this discussion was supposed to be spoiler free, for those who hadn't read the book, but I have to respond by saying this. Peter Jackson wisely took out a major key scene from the "scouring of the shire" sequence and moved it to within the storyline of the movie. To the dismay of eagle eye readers a national magazine ruined that surprise by actually printing a 'still' production photo of that scene.

Seeker

The scouring of the shire does appear, and has already - just in Galadrial's mirror.

Seeker

Jackson has done this twice:

The scouriing of the shire: Galadrial's mirror

The death of Aragorn and the grief of Arwen: Elrond's foretelling

A way to bring both "post LOTR" items into the mainstream of the story.

And I assume these are not ROTK spoilers since they have already appeared in the movies.

chess

not a spoiler, but a bit misleading in that

i really think that for the purposes of the film, the climax has to be the battle at the gate along with mount doom...in a movie, you just can't trudge through the scouring...though i would also like to see the grey havens or at the least the "can't go home" subtext worked in somehow.

Seeker

Sure, , but that IS what is shown - note how old Aragorn looks in the TTT in the foretelling.

chess

right, but the way you said it could have given people false ideas about what happens in RotK...

forgot what this thread was about...spoilers? no, just my basic notion after reading LotR that RotK was gonna kick some serious arse on film and would be better than fellowship or towers by quite a stretch.

Hobgoblin

Nope. We have to wait 11 months for that as well.

Corvin

I can't be the only one concerned about the running time here, can I?

They cut quite a few chapters out of TTT, presumably to be placed in ROTK. But think about how much content is in ROTK.

Something is going to get cut, and if not, prepare for a watered-down version.

In any case, I'm still looking forward to ROTK. But boy, am I glad I've read the books. I'd hate to see that, on page one none-the-less,

Ugh.

Till again.