Did Ben Burtt, the Star Wars sound designer, work on LotR?
The thing that makes me wonder is the 'Wilhelm scream.' It's Ben Burtt's signature (cf.
Wilhelm scream ), and it is heard three times in LotR. First in TTT as an elf warrior falls from the Deeping Wall, second in RotK as a Gondorian solider is dropped by a Fell Beast, and finally when a spearwielding Harad-man falls off the oliphaunt Legolas slays.
I've looked at the credits for LotR, but can't find Burtt's name. Did Burtt sign onto LotR at TTT and so put the scream twice in RotK to make up for not using it in FotR? Did some other sound designer put it in as some homage to SW? If so, I find it in very poor taste. This is Middle-earth, long ago, but this galaxy. To hear that scream in TTT was cool, but twice in RotK instantly zapped me from the heat of battle in the Pelennor Fields right back to my movie seat, and I got very annoyed.