Denathor's death was the biggest, 'hey! that never happened!' moment for me. Not sure why, in all the changes, that one bugged me the most. Frank, your working crystallized if for me.

Right. There is burnign yourself on a funeral pyre like some strange pagan king, and then there is having your dress catch fire and leaping off the end of a heliport like the lighting of an Olympic flame in reverse. Guess which one has the bizarro dignity?

That was what book-Denethor had, above all: dignity. There are all those mirror characters -- Faramir:Boromir, Gandalf:Saruman, Strider:Boromir -- and I think that Denethor is Strider's other mirror. Knowing Denethor allowed me to understand/imagine the greatness of the former kingdoms, and how they had fallen totally to pieces.

Denethor was Greatness Fallen. He had pretty much single-handedly stood between the forces of good and evil for decades. In the movie he's just a nut job who hates his younger son for not dying in his brother's place. He actually would have been a smart choice to send to Rivendell, especially since Boromir was managing the defense of Osgiliath and all.

and I think that Denethor is Strider's other mirror

I think Denethor also acts as a mirror figure of Gandalf was well - the Gandalf who acts as mentor (specifically to Boromir).

Right. There is burnign yourself on a funeral pyre like some strange pagan king, and then there is having your dress catch fire and leaping off the end of a heliport like the lighting of an Olympic flame in reverse. Guess which one has the bizarro dignity?

bing bing bing

Exactly why it earned a snort of derision from me even the first time around.

eta there's not even hippo dignity in how movie Denethor went out.

No hippo dignity.

And the squishy eating scene gave me the quease. But I suppose that was intentional. "Look! He's crazy...he's got bad table manners!

far, far better then the firey plunge off the heliport o'doom.

Still. Can't get over the line from A Bug's Life, "Flaminnng--DEATH!"

My co-worker returned my DVD of RotK just now, and had some questions.

"Why did that little guy with the curly hair and blue eyes have to get on the boat?"
"Wasn't that dark-haired girl supposed to be dead?"
"Now, that creepy little jerk, he fell into the volcano with the ring and died, right?"

She really got none of the names, even after seeing all three films, but she did love the scenery, the battles, "the animals" (I'm guessing she meant the Mumakil here), and "that creepy little jerk" (Gollum). As a complete newbie and non-fantasy-geek, she's probably the epitome of the filmgoer that the studio was afraid "wouldn't get it," but she loved the series nonetheless, and wants to spend a weekend doing a marathon viewing of all three in a row when she has some time to herself.

"Why did that little guy with the curly hair and blue eyes have to get on the boat?"

Oh deer loward. I'm actually thinking about using this as a tagline. Somebody stop me.

That was what book-Denethor had, above all: dignity.

Yes. Still didn't much like Denethor in the book, but HATED him in the movie. But, loved his eldest son so much more in the movie, that perhaps it evens out.

So, I may be really behind on this, but I just saw The Bourne Supremacy this weekend. Did anyone else notice Eomer (Karl Urban) doing a wonderful job as the bad guy ?

Of course I noticed! I noticed the lack of funny hair and armoured shoulders! And the lack of an expression other than pissy. Sigh. I bet he has a nice smile, but I wouldn't know. I've never seen it.