[doug*platypus]

Absolute and utter anti-climax. Very tough to beat <I>The Battle of the Pelennor Fields</I> and Sam's victory over Shelob, but I think that <I>The Black Gate Opens</I> and <I>Mount Doom</I> could both have done a better job. <P>I've heard the old 'wait for the extended edition' excuse time and time again. But to completely remove any sense of the passage of time in Frodo and Sam's journey or the ride to the Black Gate was the worst editing call yet. It felt extremely hurried, although I do feel some sympathy for Peter Jackson and the mammoth task he had to achieve. We can debate where he could have saved time elsewhere. Believe me, there were plenty of opportunities (again!).<P>I was privileged enough to be present at the filming of Aragorn's motivation speech. I can tell you that it was at least twenty times as powerful then. Howard Shore completely ruined the moment, and I really feel bad for Viggo. Also I think that <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> For Frodo. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> is second only to <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> Let's hunt some orc! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>in terms of cheesy rubbish that Viggo had to put up with. Once again, PJ provided perfect cinematic fare, but did himself an injustice by not knowing when to stop.<P>I felt that some of <I>The Battle of the Pelennor Fields</I> should have been saved for <I>The Black Gate Opens</I>, especially the trolls. After all, regardless of the size of the battles, <B>this</B> is the climax of the movie, as the fate of Middle-Earth is decided in the Sammath Naur.<P>Although the eagles were superb and beautifully done, at least one line was needed in <I>The Fellowship of the Ring</I> or <I>The Two Towers</I> to explain Gwaihir and his boys, and their role as far as rescuing Gandalf. Those few shots of the rescue from Orthanc were not enough to explain that this eagle was part of a race of sentient beings fighting against the forces of Sauron, and not just a friendly bird. Boyd's line about <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> The eagles are coming! The eagles are coming! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>meant nothing, as Gandalf already knew it. By the way, the middle of a pitched battle is no place for a moth. PJ, spare me that and instead give me Gandalf's most charismatic moment, when he yells out for the entire battle to stop while the fate of all hung in the balance.<P>Having Merry at the Black Gate did nothing but add inconsistency. I thought that he should have been back at Minas Tirith with Éowyn. I guess it just shows that when you stab the undead wraith of a powerful king and sorceror, it stings for at least an hour or two afterwards. The friendship angle with him and Pippin had already been very well done, and there wasn't time for them to say goodbye to each other before the battle anyway!<P>Legolas and Gimli's final words could have been done better, as well. It just wasn't very moving. The writers and the actors paid much less attention to this than to the hobbits, but well I guess it was a composite shot anyway, so what can you do?<P>Excuse me... they fall into a crevasse? Every last orc? Oh, how convenient. I guess that will save about five minutes of screen time in which the good guys would have had to clean up.<P><I>Aragorn</I>: Well, looks like we've defeated the Dark Lord.<P><I>Gandalf (holding stopwatch)</I>: Yes, and in great time! Wait til Manwë sees this! It's gotta be a new record!