high, purged of the gross: the movies

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Well, for the record I will say that Tolkien did get there. (I think it would be kind of pointless in discussing this topic if we doubt that Tolkien got there at all.)

And I think that, by and large, Jackson 'got' there too, or thereabouts at least. Certainly in comparison with basically every other big Hollywood-style film Jackson's characters were noble and admirable (excepting Denethor). Its just that we constantly compare Jackson with Tolkien on this forum (and not other film directors) and that is why he gets so much criticism.