Okay, so what do you think NOW?

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Morsul the Dark

Many scenes in the book wouldn't translate to film well, (Theoden, coming out of his stupor for example.)

Oh, they could, they would, and they should; all it takes is a good actor being allowed to do his job, instead of the director relying on special effects!
Sorry, Morsul, but you've chosen an extremely bad example here. Théoden's transition from depressed old man to vigorous leader is just the kind of showpiece any aspiring character actor would sell his soul for. Imagine what a great actor from the Golden Age, someone like Alec Guinness or Laurence Olivier, could have done with that scene! Heck, I'm sure Bernard Hill could have pulled it off just fine all by himself if PJ had only let him. Movies and theatre have done that kind of thing very successfully for ages without any cheap tricks.
Instead, we get a weak rehash of The Exorcist which only lacks Théoden starting to spew green pea soup.
And just so you know where I'm standing, things like this wouldn't irk me half so much if the movies hadn't handled lots of other things so very well. They got so close to getting it right, it's all the more of a pity they screwed up so badly when they did.