[Mister Underhill]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

"Crawl! Crawl for your lives!"

I LOL'ed!

Originally Posted by Nerwen

Btw, that article you linked to, Mr Underhill, is really quite interesting... once you get past the bizarre presentation, anyway.

Yes, Film Crit Hulk takes some getting used to, but I think he has some really great insights and ideas about film if you can just go with the flow.

Originally Posted by littlemanpoet

Thanks for the reference to cause & effect in Spielberg, Mister Underhill. What does that say about Peter Jackson?

Well, it's a continuum, right? I think Jackson often loses sight of the big picture for the sake of a gag in the moment, whether it's a JUMP! of surprise, a burp joke, a bit of shield-surfing, a gross-out image, what have you. His focus is more on the moment-to-moment without always being in control (or sometimes, being aware) of how a given choice might be undermining what he's trying to accomplish overall. And he obviously isn't always able to manage the clarity of intention of a Spielberg (though not many do).

Originally Posted by littlemanpoet

YOU DO NOT BREAK THE RULE OF NO VIOLENCE DURING PARLEY. IT'S A MAJOR COMPROMISE OF ONE'S HONOR. Why doesn't Peter Jackson know that?

I think again it goes back to Jackson favoring going for something extreme in the moment over a careful control of what he's building in the overarching narrative. A digitally enlarged mouth is a more arresting visual. A beheading is more shocking and visually interesting than both sides just riding away, even though it happens to subvert the personality of one of your most important characters.