I've been listening to the Director/Writers Commentary and PJ & Co did address the matter of Aragorn's plunge over the cliff.<P>Cinematically, they felt that this seeming death heightened the emotional reaction of the other cast members. It provided an opportunity for more business with Arwen, who (in part due to internet fan reaction) was dropped from a major deviation that would have brought her to Helm's Deep. To sustain the love interest for a theatre audience across three films required that SOMETHING be done. "The Grace of the Valar" scene demonstrates their connection and its emotion was heightened by the sense that Aragorn was nearly killed. Had it not been for that "grace," which Arwen's intercession seemed to bring, he still might not have survived. The XTTT further enjoys the ironly that Brego was the very horse that earlier had been set free by Aragorn (another xscene that added so much to the interpretation). It also provided a way for Aragorn to be the one to bring news of the army of uruks advancing on Helm's Deep. <P>While such plot devices were not necessary in in the literature, departures of this kind have to be expected in a cinematic interpretation. I do not find myself upset by such deviations, as long as they are done well and in the spirit of Tolkien's creation. I did not find either Aragorn's tumble at the end of a warg attack, or the reinterpretation of Faramir, to be disturbing in any way. The XTTT, does bring Faramir into sharper view.<P>It was with a smile that I watched the backstory of the change during the creation of the films from the Xenarwen concept to Professor Tolkien's Arwen. Incorporating the future story of Arwen from the Appendices was brilliant, and brilliantly done.<P>I did not even mind the Elves sending a small force to Helm's Deep.<P>What chaps my hide is that all the Barrow-Downs gets is a measly couple of lines from Gollum in the Dead Marshes! (Just kidding.)<P>Again, what I keep in mind is that this is a cinematic interpretation and not direct translation of the literature. It is the very scope, depth, power, and glory of the tale as Tolkien wrote it that makes LOTR impossible to translate to any screen with much more than an image of the the whole. <P>What makes the movies work in the end (with all due regard to the gifted writing, directorial genius, brilliant artistry, glorious music, dedicated craftsmanship, and inspired acting), is that the spirit of Tolkien's work shines through this almost perfect interpretation. It is the devotion and dedication of an incredible team of people to be true to this spirit that makes these movies such a great body of work.<P>What I find personally interesting is how much and how well this work effected the lives of those who carried it out (and who are indeed still working on it).
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