I just want to see the sailboat!

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Child of the 7th Age

Just think of it this way....if you had to choose between being in a front line to face a charging oliphaunt, or a little rugged camping out in a remote area, which duty posting would you pick? Under those circumstances, the beacon lighting duty starts to look better and better!

Point taken!

And, of course, the idea of beacons serving as a quick form of communication between Gondor and Rohan in times of war does come straight from the pages of LotR. Admittedly, Tolkien's beacons are placed on the foothills of the White Mountains and therefore avoid some of the problems highlighted here. But I would rather the beautiful sequence shown in the film than a series of hilltop bonfires.