[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I can't argue with any of the points that you raise - they are all valid - but I still feel personally that the films (particularly the Extended Editions) are an extremely fine rendering of what would be an almost impossible book to precisely reproduce faithfully on film. One of the issues in particular is the highly non-linear time sequence of "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King", with multiple plot-lines, and the reader reading one narrative, then switching to another viewpoint and jumping back in time, to eventually catch up with, or go forward from, the previous plotline. By necessity, time in the film versions had to be "linearised", and this removes a lot of the tension.

Spoiler:

A classic example of this is when "The Mouth of Sauron" rides out from the Black Gate of Mordor, and throws Bilbo's armour on the ground in front of Gandalf and Aragorn. In the book, we'd left Bilbo a captive of the Orcs, but in the film we already know that he escaped, thus entirely removing the tension of that scene in the film.

Criticisms aside, though, I think the films are wonderful, and perhaps unlikely to be surpassed in my lifetime.

I agree, though I know you meant Fro do, not Bilbo. :-) the one thing I minded was Arwen, not Fro do confronting the Ringwraiths but I didn't mind her having a larger role. Her nonexistence in the books was a weakness because she is kind of important, the link between Elves and Men. Oh, the stupid skull surfing scene could have been nixed for more Faramir and Eowyn.