Why LOTR Sucks: Watching The Weather Channel

It’s extra frustrating to think about all the bad choices that were made with regards to the script, as illustrated by the latest sequence. It seems Peter Jackson leaves in what he should have left out, and changes things that didn’t need to be changed. He added to scenes here, one of Boromir picking up the ring after it mysteriously falls off Frodo’s neck and falls several yards in front of him. It establishes that Boromir is sorely tempted by the ring. Or should I say it reestablishes, because we already know that Boromir wants the ring. He said as much during the council.

Then we watch them climbing a mountain in the snow. A beautiful mountain to be sure, but the scene certainly lacks drama. We get to watch as Gandalf and Saruman have some kind of long distance wizard battle that involves lightening and avalanches and a lot of voice over narrative about why Gandalf is scared of Moria. Yeah, that’s the best way to introduce the idea.

Obviously the filmmakers wanted to emphasize that Gandalf is reluctant to go to Moria, but is this really the best way to do it? With a Saruman voice over? Why not cut straight to Moria, and explain somehow that it’s dangerous, but the only way. Well, I guess they were paying Christopher Lee either way, so might as well cram him into as many scenes as possible.

Worst of all, Gandalf lets Frodo decide their path. That’s what I would do, allow the least equipped person to make a life and death decision for the group when at least five other people are better able to do so.

Minutes Watched: 1:57.47

Number of Montages: 5

Number of slow motion close-ups of people crying: 4

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