[radagastly]

I thought the opening black screen, with the voice-over was a very effective way to set a mood of mystery, especially with Cate doing the voice. Not that Galadriel was necessarily the best narrator for the prologue or the worst, since there were many options, but Cate does the reading exactly right, I think, and we don't know her as a character yet, so it doesn't impact our understanding of what's going on. It could be any voice, even the Ring's voice.

Everything in this prologue seems to be muted in color except the fire. Sort of smokey charcoal-grey or fire-yellow, nothing else. Even the eyes of the orcs glow with the same yellow color as the inscription on Sauron's ring. The elves in the battle wear gold armor, to be sure, but it is muted with a sort of dull green cast. It's very moody and hazy, like an ancient memory. It really enhances the sense of that this is history.

One of the things that I like to do when I first watch a movie is look at the horizon in the long shots, especially at the beginning of the film. Horizons mark the shape of the world, and tell you where you're at. This opening sequence doesn't seem to distinguish its horizons. The closer shots are either interior, or they are shrouded in mist such that the distant edge of the world is invisible. Even the battle scene at Mount Doom is surrounded by so much smoke that you can't tell where the land ends and the sky begins. This enhances the other-worldly mood of these scenes by displacing us. We are floating and rather unstuck like in a dream or a memory.

And just what was Isildur thinking anyway? Most people, especially when in water, sink. Most of these same people, laden with chain-mail armor, sink like rocks in water. Actually more like heavy large aerodynamic rocks with lead centers. So not so sure what he planned to do when Isildur started into the water. Luckily he gets a few wooden 'arrows of buoyancy' in his back as these offset the weight of his body and armor so that he can float away.

I must admit, this bothered me, too. One of the first things I thought of was Spanish Conquistadors trying to swim to their ships fully armored and with pockets full of gold, drowning on the way because the weight was too much.

The synchronized sword swinging thing that the elves do looks really cool, and I assume that it was added to show the precision and coordination of the Elves, in contrast to the chaos of the orcs, who seem to attack in a free-for-all swarm. If you really think about it, though, the orcs have to hit the line in sync with the elves' sword wave for the wave to serve any purpose. If an elf swings his/her sword too soon, it's ineffective (but looks really nice! just like a marching band...); too late, and the orc has already bopped him/her on the head.

I took another look at this, just to see if the orcs really were chaotic. Their front line is in a wedge formation, albeit rounded a bit, a legitimate method of attack, and the synchronised sword swing starts in the middle, where the orcs collide first. It then moves out in both directions. We just see it from one end, a visually exciting POV.

The only disadvantage is the murder of Gil-galad on the cutting-room floor. His appearance wielding Aiglos is very tricky to catch. Why not have shown more shots of him in the fighting? It needn't have cut Elrond's appearances if they'd fought side by side.

As much as I like him as a character, Gil-Galad isn't as important to the story of Lord of the Rings as Elrond is. I believe he was sacrificed for the sake of clarity. If you feature him now, he ought to turn up later, and that could eat up time without advancing the plot. Better to leave him obscure and shift the focus onto an elf who does turn up later anyway.

Argh, it's hard not to pick out those book-to-film differences, but I have decided I shall resist!

I know what you mean. I first read these books when P.J. was in diapers, but I'm determined to put that aside as a means of comparison. I'll use if to clarify what I'm trying to say if need be, but I'm going to make every effort to stay within the context of the film throughout this discussion. Wish me luck!