Another thing...Why did the elves not fight?

[The Saucepan Man]

... just a quick point in defence of Jackson.

I can understand how the movies may have affected peoples' perception of the War of the Ring greatly. Peter Jackson chose to limit the conflict to the war in Gondor, thus shooting himself (and the story) in the foot.

I think it would have been very difficult for Jackson to portray the role of the Elves and Dwarves (and other Men such as the Bardings and the Beornings) in the War of the Ring without either disrupting the flow of the films or lengthening them considerably (which was really not an option). After all, the story which he was filming primarily focussed on the Wartime events which took place in Rohan and Gondor. So it was, I think, a fair call. And having the Elves turn up at Helm's Deep was, in part, intended to avoid the perception (amongst filmgoers) that the Elves were content selfishly to stand by while the race of Man was annihilated.

And now back to the book ...