Personally, I think the pyre would have been more dramatic if PJ had just left it as it was in the book. I mean, that is one of my favorite scenes in the book, and it was all right in the movie except for a few things.
1) Shadowfax pushing Denethor into the pyre. I really didn't like that. It gave the impression that there was no hope for Denethor, that he was totally evil, whereas in the book Gandalf tries to get him to come back. I very much prefer that sequence of events; that way it really is suicide. In the movie I, having read the book, couldn't help but think, 'Wait, aren't you even going to try to make him see the light? He's crazy, not evil!'
2) Denethor running off the building. I had such a great mental image from the book of Beregond and Gandalf and Pippin carrying Faramir out and Gandalf telling Denethor to come, and Denethor hesitating, looking at Faramir, then grabbing his palantir and rushing up on the pyre, and the doors slamming shut, and Gandalf watching in despair... I think Pete and I have different interpretations of this, and I like mine better. Denethor conveniently running off a cliff seemed so... melodramatic.
I also really didn't like Denethor's line, "The rule of Gondor is mine." I always thought that Denethor would step down if the King came, he just didn't believe Aragorn really was the King. Thoughts?
Anyhow, those are my complaints. And I don't think the palantir will show up in the EE, though I wish it would. But maybe I'm just pessimistic, as I am a lot.
Oh, I have a question. Remember how there's that guy who looks kind of like Haldir... oh, damn, what is his first line... Oh, he says, "Long has the Lord Denethor forseen this doom," yaddah yaddah yaddah when Faramir and crew come back from Osgiliath. And then he says to Denethor when the soldiers are carrying Faramir's body up to the tree, "They were outnumbered, none survived," or something.
Is that Imrahil? He never showed up again, which I guess is understandable, since Imrahil's such a, well, I don't want to say pointless, but he isn't all that relevant. But do you think that was a nod to the fans? He did look sort of Elvish, as I remember.
And I missed Beregond. I always liked Beregond. But I guess if you can't fit in the Houses of Healing, you certainly can't fit in Beregond. Still, I would have rather watched Beregond and Pippin than Arwen looking pathetic.
