Saruman's fireball

[Rose Cotton]

in the books Tolkien doesnt use magic that way other writers do like Harry Potter for example. Tolkien's magic is more of a person's power over nature and its more suttle. like Sarumon using words to cast spells, or Galadriel being able to tel future and talk to people. its more suttle things like that. Tolkien doesnt do things like some one causing a big explosion and killing a massive amount of people. but as i said that is covered in other threads so go look into those.

That is a good point. When I saw the fireball it didn't bother me because it was a deviation from the books. There was something else about it that I just couldn't put my finger on. Then I figured it out. I was magic.

In the book magic is often alluded to but it is suble is it is seen at all. And most of it is so enveloped in the world that we don't even think of it as magic anymore.

Ex. Legolas walking on the snow, the ring turning the bearer invisible, talking trees (ents), a flaming eye

I wasn't until I saw that fireball that I realized how much magic was in the movies that I took for granted and never even questioned. The fireball was just such sudden and obvious magic that it was obvious that it was not real.

I'm not saying that it was a bad choice on the part of PJ. It was nessisary to show Gandalf's domination over Saruman to a large audience. However I am saying that it is a bit of magic that does not really fit into Tolkien's world.