Ah! Finally! Finally we reach Minas Tirith! There is much to be said.
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Originally Posted by Sir Kohran
Note that we don't see Gandalf and Pippin actually entering the City - this is because the Nazgul attack sequence that comes later (where Gandalf does enter the City through the gates) was supposed to happen now, and Gandalf would enter the City with the defeated soldiers and then the meeting with Denethor would follow. This also explains why Pippin is with Gandalf when he attacks the Nazgul. But the editing room changed things around, for the better I might add.
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Funnily, on the soundtrack the music we hear when Gandalf chases the Nazgûl away still precedes the music we hear when the two ride up Minas Tirith.
I have to say that the
Fields of the Pelennor disappointed me. They look more like the Fields of the Dagorlad. I guess this is for the same reason as why Rohan isn't as green as we would have liked it to be. Probably they couldn't find a fitting landscape in New Zealand. A pity...
I agree, Billy Boyd is awesome in these scenes - the best Pippin scenes of the whole trilogy, to me. Finally, this really
is Peregrin Took. Pippin has met a lot of criticism, but Boyd is not to be blamed for it. He's a very fine actor and does the best with what is given to him.
But then there's Denethor. I would like Jackson's Denethor much, much more if only we were given a reason for his madness. Why not show a scene where Pippin watches him looking into the Tirith-Palantír and despairing at the sight? Instead we could cut out something like... for example... the drinking game?
The only thing we know for reasons is Boromir telling Aragorn that his father is weak in Lórien and Denethor getting on the nerves of his sons in Osgiliath.
I really don't like what is done with Gandalf in the scene with Denethor. He's cold-hearted, undiplomatic and almost insolent before the chair of the steward. His tone was much different when he counselled Théoden, though he didn't like his decisions any more than Denethor's.
One thing that disproportionately bugs me is Denethor's "You think you are wise Mithrandir, yet for all your subtleties you have not wisdom." Where's the 'all'!? The writers changed an intelligent (and true!) statement to a mere insult!
"Authority is not given to you to deny the return of the king, steward!"
What do my ears hear? Ah! If only anybody had told Arvedui!
In the end, I like the look from Minas Tirith over to Mordor. There's a great contrast between the black and red in the background and the bright white of the city. I even think they made the stones a little bit whiter here than in the other scenes (like the rocks at the East-gate of Moria were brighter than usual, though for a different effect), but maybe I imagine that.