[Marileangorifurnimaluim]

Well, here's what I think the movie needs to have:<BR><UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>Gollum: we need to feel both pity for him, and disgust. So we need to know his history, and see what he was before the ring corrupted him utterly. We need to know he was a hobbit himself. This is going to be PJ's toughest task. If people cheer when Gollum plummets into the Cracks of Doom, he will have failed. And if Gollum isn't handled rightly, that is exactly what is going to happen.<BR><LI>Faramir/Denethor: In order to understand the dynamic between Faramir and his father, and much of the cause of the madness of Denethor, we have to see the three together. The favorite elder son, the scholarly younger scorned by his father. Boromir as a character exists in the other two books, continuing to shape the lives of his family after and by his death.<BR><LI>Frodo's apparent doom: in order for his rescue to seem miraculous, the audience has to be convinced he is going to die. This convincing is done by Frodo himself in the books, but he'll sound like a whiner if we don't have some solid evidence to back him up - Galadriel, people who know what he's facing. In the books, he's portrayed as having uncommon intuition, but that has not come across in Elijah's performance, Elijah's just too young (not as a seasoned actor, but simply in looks) for that to be convincing.<BR><LI>Theoden and Wormtongue: we need some history lessons about Wormtongue's trusted relationship in Theoden's house. I mean, who would trust a guy called 'Wormtongue'?<BR><LI>Eowyn: we need something to create a relationship between Aragorn and Eowyn, some basis other just 'gazing upon him' as happens in the Books. That's not gonna fly in a movie. We need to understand her motivations for going to war, and have some basis for her skill with a sword (or she's gonna look as ridiculous as Arwen - don't get me started on Arwen).<BR><LI>A little more development to explain Merry's oath of fealty to Theoden would be nice. Simply because I would enjoy it, too.<BR> </UL><P>I'm wondering how they're going to do the Palantir and Pippin. Hm, are they still going to have Pippin steal it, or is he going to rescue it from that puddle and gaze on it right there? I figure we won't have any riding time to kill from Orthanc to Edoras.<P>Any director who would cut the dramatic potential of the Paths of the Dead, one of Tolkien's truly unique moments, is a fool. And I don't think PJ is a fool.<p>[ August 26, 2002: Message edited by: Marileangorifurnimaluim ]