Not like the book...

Rating: Null/10 (23 December 2002)

I am a "Tolkien geek" who thinks Tolkien would hate Peter Jackson and his films were he alive today and watching them. I live and breathe Middle Earth and I cannot even begin to fathom the injustice that Jackson has done with his movies. For example, in the 89th minute of the film, Aragorn lifts his left arm and points off into the distance. When I saw this I thrashed about in my seat because EVERYBODY knows that in the book, Aragorn raises his "right" arm and points. Why can't Jackson get that right? And later, in the battle for Helm's Deep, Gimli bellows for the foe to "come at me." In the movie he yells "Come at me" to the foe but quite clearly (I've now seen the film three times already since Wednesday) you can hear that it, indeed, is a yell and NOT a bellow. At the beginning of the movie, when Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas are tracking Merry and Pippen, Legolas stops and stares off the west, but in the movie, due to the position of the Sun, he appears to be looking more southwest. And in another scene, Aragorn is seen with his sword shackled to his left hip when in the book his blade was described to be scabbered to his "right" hip. And right before the battle of Helm's Deep, it states in the book that the enemy stomp their feet and then their spears, but in the movie only the spears are "beaten." Why is this? Was it too much to ask for the actors to stomp their feet, too?
I know Jackson should be praised for doing what nobody has ever done, or even attempted to be done. I know this could have been two films, or even a lone film. Or even worse an ABC Mini-series. I know this movie is doing to the fantasy genre what "Star Wars" did for science-fiction. And many people have told me that Tolkien, were he alive, would be thrilled and tickled pink at the attention that has been lavished on his epic, exhilerated by the movies and his imagination brought to life on the screen. In fact, my best friend told me the other day that Tolkien would probably pull a "Shatner" on guys like me, telling me "to get a life" and not psycho-analyze this movie. Perhaps he's right. But then again, I've read the "Lord of the Rings" at least 1,000 times since age 12, and so my usual retort is that "I know more about this trilogy than Mr. Tolkien himself does."
But why can't directors simply film pages from the book? Just start at page 1, roll camera, read the dialogue straight from the pages, and film a movie? If the story can thrill countless millions in the minds of its readers, than surely this same UNALTERED story can do the same through the lense of a camera? Why has Peter Jackson made so many subtile changes from the book? Yes, yes, yes, obviously the worgs that aren't there or Aragorn's plunge over the cliff are huge deviations from the book, but what's gotten me so vexed are the "small" changes as well. It makes no sense since the action IS RIGHT THERE IN THE PAGES OF THE BOOKS!
Don't see this movie. Mr. Jackson is dropping the ball with these movies and Tolkien is obviously spinning in his grave. Like that Helm's Deep scene when the rain begins to fall. It obvioulsy started falling 'after' the battle had commenced, not before as it was shown in the movie. And what about Merry and Pippen? They were switched sitting places on Treebeard as the latter roamed the forest in the movie? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Mr. Jackson, shame on you!!!