[Meriadoc1961]

At the risk of appearing inconsistent, the opening scenes of FOTR impressed me. I thought what was done was an excellent way to give needed background to the story. The narration was true to the story, even though Galdriel was speaking it instead of Treebeard. (Hey, later on Treebeard is given words to say that are spoken by Bombadil in the book!) And the battle scene at Mt. Doom I thought was also magnificent.

My only complaints have been in the change of CHARACTER I see in the films, especially the further we got along in the tale. I do not recall Gandalf behaving in a way that was inconsistent with his character from the books in the first two films, particularly FOTR, but I definitely saw him in a light that, in my opinion, was uncalled for and not necessary with his beating of Denethor. But by then I had already been sucked into the Middle-earth world Jackson had created that I was able to tolerate it, if you will.

Sauron, you had no need to apologize, for I had not posted that I had seen the commentaries to the DVDs before. I do, however, appreciate your kind words anyway. I also hope you do not believe I am "blasting" Peter Jackson and his efforts. I actually do like the movies, and I have recommended them to others! But the "purist" in me thinks they would have been even better had the characters not been tampered with in the manner they were.