[doug*platypus]

Interesting sequence, this. Some of the best and worst movie stuff here.

Nice to hear Bill the Pony mentioned by name; did PJ and co really want the Watcher to eat him?! Disturbing this news is...

All in all I thought that the scene in front of the doors of Moria was well done. I personally didn't have a problem with Frodo solving the riddle, since I'm all for Frodo in most matters, begging your pardon. Ditto Merry and Pippin childishly throwing pebbles into the water; it seemed in character for the mischievous duo. The writing on the doors looked excellent, and really seemed to be shining out, as you would expect of ithildin.

On entering the mines, the Fellowship immediately find out that there have been previous kerfuffles, and that in all likelihood they will find goblins rather than the Dwarves that Gimli was sure were there. I think this ruins the surprise somewhat, and also leads to a bit of indecision on the part of the company. "Into the mines!" "Out of the mines!" "Into the mines again!". It seems to be a bit of a recurring theme with PJ that his characters don't know where they're going, or why (Éomer, Faramir, Sam).

The watcher in the water was a great creature! Really freaky. I know that in the book we only see the tentacles, but I felt in this instance that PJ made a good decision, and the horror is in fact intensified by seeing the beast.

Gandalf's dialogue with Frodo is just fantastic. Although I miss my favourite chapter in the book, The Shadow of the Past, when the two are discussing this and other things in the comfort of Bag End, inserting the dialogue at this point in time worked very well. Possibly even better, dare I say it, as this becomes almost the last words that Gandalf will speak to the Ringbearer before their paths are sundered.

I thought that the reveal of the twenty-first hall, or wherever it was, with the pillars was not as impressive as Jackson intended it to be. It just looked like a CG shot of a bunch of pillars, to me, yet we are supposed to be filled with some grand sense of wonder. For those of you with access to the Alan Lee illustrated centenary edition of LOTR, I think that Lee's painting is considerably better. We see a few less pillars, with the Fellowship shown at the base of one for a truly grand sense of scale, and a shaft of light beaming in from outside. Also the pillars appear more carven, and there are vast vaults which make the place seem like some fabulous stone cathedral. Sam's comment about an eye-opener may have been more suited if PJ had shown us this hall exactly as Lee had envisioned it.

The Book of Mazarbul was a very well crafted prop. It absolutely looked the part, and PJ allowed enough of the book dialogue through for us to get a sense of impending doom. Pippin's folly in disturbing the skeleton was pretty well done, but I guess by placing it here in the Chamber rather than earlier begs to ask the question, just how far away were those orcs that they reached the Fellowship so quickly?

Although I enjoyed the fight scene in the book more, especially Frodo's foot stabbing styles and the description of the appearance of the orc chieftain, its PJs artistic licence to show the various battle scenes as he chooses to, and I can't see too much to complain about. The cave troll batting orcs away while trying to nail Gimli was cool. I wish that Gimli hadn't been prancing around on top of Balin's tomb; I also thought it was a little disrespectful, and not in keeping with the book Gimli who hewed the legs out from under an orc who had sprung on the tomb.

I would have hated the dwelling on Frodo's mithril coat, except for a classic Gimli quote: "you are full of surprises, Mr Baggins". I just love Rhys-Davies accent and delivery here.

So the Fellowship escape for the time being, and Gandalf tells us the title of the next chapter for effect (yawn! I'm getting tired of hearing the chapter names by now, sorry, as they add little to the story). Then the infamous surrounding of the Fellowship by thousands of orcses, which I totally don't buy. While I accept that the orcs are afraid of the Balrog, I don't think that fear would extend to giving up on almost certain victory over the Fellowship, and dinner to boot. So then we get even more foreshadowing of the Balrog. Bad enough that Saruman had to tell us what the surprise was; now Gandalf is laying the facts out before we even see the guy. Okay, so it's defensible that Gandalf perceived what was coming for them, but I would have preferred not to have him named until the Fellowship actually see him.

And just when the tension is building up to a confrontation between Gandalf and the Balrog, PJ inserts one of the more ridiculous scenes in the trilogy: the falling stairs. Because Moria and a Balrog aren't exciting enough? Or were they so exciting that we needed to slow down the action for what seem like endless minutes? I just can't understand his logic, here.

And finally we get to see the Balrog. Was he worth all the waiting and foreshadowing? NO. At the risk of being unpopular, I have to say that in FOTR the Balrog was not as scary as he should have been. When we see the fire effects on him close up in TTT, he is much better, but in the current sequence he just didn't do it for me. I think most probably because he was too animalistic. There was no sense of malice or evil. He was just there, on fire, breathing a bit of fire, but no emotion. Maybe if he had eyes in his sockets instead of just fire, he would have been able to impart some terror in me, but alas no.

I'm glad PJ decided to go with Gandalf's cryptic "secret fire" lines from the book here. This confrontation could easily have turned into another "give up the halfling she-elf". Then all happens more or less as per the book... Balrog's sword destroyed, Gandalf breaks the bridge, Balrog lashes whip around Gandalf's ankles. But then the whip releases him, and he is left hanging on to the bridge. This is a bit of a mistake, I think, because it seems as if Boromir or Aragorn could have saved Gandalf by running to his aid and helping him up. It almost seems as if Gandalf lets go. He looks to be in a position where he could possibly scramble up on to the bridge. It would have been more plausible if the Balrog had simply dragged him off the bridge completely as per the book, with Gandalf vainly clutching at the stone. We then could have had the yell of "fly, you fools!" as Gandalf sails down into the abyss.

Then we have the weeping scene, and it's off to Lothlórien! I might add that PJ made a good decision to cut out Kheled-Zâram; Gimli's sightseeing would not have added much to the story, and only served to confuse viewers.