[Kalimac]

Not to mention that "The Paths of Dead" answers a question that would otherwise be on the lips of every moviegoer: "Hey, where did he get the army from?" Seriously, without the Paths of the Dead (unless, God help us, Arwen arrives at the last second with multiple battalions of Elves) you'd be hard-pressed to explain where all those reinforcements came from, considering the state that both Minas Tirith and Rohan are in. <P>And as for cutting subplots - forgive me if anyone mentioned this before, but how about the subplot with Eowyn falling in love with Aragorn? I would like to see that kept in, but the more I think about it the more cuttable (from a director's point of view) it seems. She warns him about the Paths, but that wouldn't have to be because of love, just rationality. Her "crush" so to speak, never develops into anything bigger; certainly it's never reciprocated. The explanation for Eowyn's sadness could simply be made that her brother has been thrown in prison and she's been kept at home looking after a prematurely-moribund Theoden when she feels her true calling to be that of a shield-maiden. Then at the end, presto, along comes Faramir and she marries him. No need to bring the fruitless crush on Aragorn into things at all. Any other thoughts?<p>[ March 28, 2002: Message edited by: Kalimac ]