Lost Tolkien's vision

Rating: 8/10 (13 September 2005)

Probably the best put together of the three, and certainly the most interesting, visually. The important plot points are all there, and I can't fault the script writers for any omissions, but just as with The Two Towers, I take strong objection to some of the changes.
Tolkien seems to have been strongly influenced by his experiences in World War I, the realities of trench warfare, tanks and machine guns on the battlefield, and planes overhead. His books carry a strong underlying current about the changes in society due to industrialization, and obviously not just in warfare, but the changes it brought to life in cities as well. This background gives nearly as much to his books as the exceedingly rich fantasy world he created around the books and the richness of his writing.
How then can the movie makers completely trivialize these points? How can the Ents, shepherds of the forest and oldest creatures in Middle Earth be completely ignorant of their flock and lacking in wisdom? Were the scriptwriters so lacking in the confidence in their ability to weave in subtle references to Tolkien's metaphor and Peter's ability to communicate that on screen that they had to reduce all mention to trite preaching? Or do they feel their audience wasn't intelligent enough to make the connection and felt they should beat us over the head with it?
If I didn't admire the stories and the monumental lengths everyone made towards getting these movies made well in nearly all other aspects, then these niggling bits wouldn't bother me, but as it stands, I'm sorely disappointed.