Been thinking about the Arwen at the Fords scene. What was PJ trying to accomplish? Methinks that he wanted to do two things: get more Liv into FotR, and show that Arwen wasn't going to be the damsel in distress nor the parting gift at the end of the quest. Arwen would be shown, and shown as being strong.
So we got the scenes that we got.
I think that PJ could have accomplished these two goals better (imagine that!
), but maybe he was constrained by wanting/needing a car chase scene early on in the movie. Sure, Arwen replaces Glorfindel, and I could deal with that, but when she becomes Frodo's taxi driver and savior, well...
We could still have included the car chase scene sans Arwen (where Arwen and Frodo Baggage flee from the Nine), but maybe as Frodo was mostly dead, the horse would have appeared more heroic than maybe was comfortable for some actors - and you always have to consider the Oscars, and just how *do* you cut a horse's 'thank you' speech short? The other issue is that it appears that Arwen and Frodo ride a good bit of the day, and so the distance for the other three hobbits to cover to be at the Fords concurrent with Frodo and the Nine was impossible - I mean, hey, they ain't natural sprinters nor long distance runners like Dwarves!
So, to put things aright, we would need to shorten the race to the Ford so that at least the Ranger and Arwen could appear at the Fords when Frodo resists the Nine - just like in the Book. So, as I see things, we'd have mostly dead Frodo ride from the Nine, and it would take a few moments for him to get to the Ford. After he crosses and the Nine begin to dip their hooves, Frodo could go through the whole "Go back" scene, which would help as we would never hear "She-elf." When the Nazgul are almost ready to overtake Frodo (you know how in movies distances can appear both close *and* far, like Gimli's head and Balin's Tomb in Moria), who appears on the other side of the river but Arwen and that Ranger guy. Arwen draws for her sword and calls out those immortal Tolkienesque words,
"If you think that you can claim him, then you're all wet!"
The Nine turn to evaluate this new threat, and as they are still in the water (don't worry for the horses, as during filming they could wear protective boots), Arwen mutters under her breathe and WHOOSH! The Nine are flushed away.
Frodo, falling from the horse, sees Arwen in all her glory...oh wait, we've already done that one...and then all fades to black.
To recap: No She-Elf, Arwen is given screen time and shown to be powerful. No horses are harmed nor have to appear at an awards show, Frodo is shown to still retain some backbone, and so what's not to like?