As you can see PK, there is no such thing as Heresy at this forum . We have a whole bunch of different opinions, and agree on some and differ on others.

Personally I thought Sam was brilliant, but I see what you mean about the odd condescending glance at the beginning. I just took it as the look a "servant" might give his "master" when he thought "master" was off his rocker . So it worked for me, but I can see how that might annoy.

Tar-Palantir, I don't think I agree that the Orcs were feeble, they seemed right on the mark to me. Some varieties were definitely not as rugged fighters as others, but they were still pretty creepy and scary-looking.

Funnily enough, I actually found Boromir's death more moving than the book. And he seemed a more sympathetic character to me in general (not to say I think his basic character was changed, just a different emphasis on certain aspects of his persona). I don't think he truly realized until that moment Frodo disappeared, the Truth of the Ring's "altogether Evil" Power.

Whether one agrees or not that Boromir of the film was like the book, I think his performance was so convincing I forgot it was a performance. And really, though I concede it's debatable how accurately the film characters in general reflect the book characters, I think the casting was, on the whole, brilliant and all the performances were convincing.

GB

GB

I think I'm back tracking a bit here, but I do actually think movie Boromir was reasonably close to the book version. He was brought out a bit more, I think, but not all that inconsistently with what was written by T. I'm certainly in agreement with you that movie Boromir was excellent. I truly liked him. When I read the book again after the FOTR movie, I saw some differences to book Boromir, but not jarringly so - and the differences to me were more to do with how I imagined him physically, not so much anything to do with his characterisation.

Odo

As with almost all the other characters in the LOTR movie trilogy, I think that the actors themselves did a really great job in helping the audience connect with the character. Boromir especially. Sean Bean adapted a certain quality to his acting in the making of FOTR that made Boromir come off the page (even more so then Tolkien's writing). I found his final scene in the movie touching, valiant, and a perfect rendition of his last stand against evil as he himself overcame the doubt that had been gnawing at him.
What I didn't like, however, was how Aragorn came in at the last moment and finished off the orc that shot Boromir. Shouldn't Boromir at least get the honor of killing off his enemy before his tragic death?

I think Aragorn did steal some of his thunder, and frankly if Aragorn had just found him with a circle of dead Uruk-hai around him, the dying scene would have come across even better. Aragorn killing the Uruk-hai was not necessary.

Odo

I say, I quite like the idea of Aragorn coming across a circle of dead Orcs around a dying Boromir .

GB

Good to see some interesting views on Boromir's death scene (and some agreement with my complaint... ).

I'm not saying the death scene wasn't moving, only that it could have been even more moving...and it didn't have that epic feel I think it was supposed to have. Something that kiddies centuries later would be talking about. The day Boromir held back an army of Uruk-hai on his own and left a mountain (okay, a small hill! ) of dead bodies around him in his effort to protect Merry and Pippin and regain his honour.

It's all the shame because I think Sean Bean was a superb Boromir. I loved his scene in the mountain when he returns the ring (very reluctantly!) to Frodo...and his death scene. The sight of Merry and Pippin as they watched him fall is probably the saddest part of the movie for me - always moves me to tears!

Yeah, exactly. I also think it was unnecessary (and more than unnecessary - distracting) for Aragon to come in and do his hero thing against the top dog Uruk-hai. Boromir should have been allowed to kick his arse.

It appears we're on the same page, Poor Knight.

I never thought the Aragorn/Uruk-hai fight scene climactic anyway. Now you've brought it up, I know why. Thanks for clarifying my thoughts (it's no mean feat, I can tell you!)

Odo

On the subject of Aragorn...
In the TT, althoug it was what initially drew me into the rest of the movies when i was 8 (for i saw FOTR when i was 6 and it scared me to death!) was the scene where aragorn falls over the cliff. I thought that that was unneccessary to the plot and just created some pointless drama and some Arwen time. I thought it was really cool [i]before[i] i read the book. It seems there was alot of drama in that movie, yet i myself set an example of how it drew in the audience, so I guess I can't complain...

For me, the only thing I really didn't like was Frodo sending Sam packing back to the Shire when they were on the stairs. It seemed a bit much.