LOTR:Return Of The King Trailer
noda132 writes "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King trailer is now available! I just found it on theonering.net. It's only 9mb big, but it's a start." You can also get it from AOL as well. Update: 09/29 20:13 GMT by S : The official site now has the new trailer as well.
Just because he's an enormous fan doesn't mean he knows what the heck the books are about.
I think most people (and I agree with them) are not upset because Jackson has made changes, but because the changes run contrary to the theme and vision of the book, and literally re-write characters in the story. Aragorn becomes some stereotypical cliche of reluctant king. Frodo is a sniveling coward, Faramir is just slimy and petty, Theoden is confused and indecisive, even after his rescue from Saruman's influence, etc.
It's one thing to adapt a book to the screen, it's another to completely re-write the book.
The scenes you make fun of show how little you understand how literature can be translated to the screen. The scene with Faramir can be very powerfully done. The viewer already knows what Boromir was like, and here comes Faramir, his brother. People EXPECT him to be like Boromir. The whole scene in the book is classic Hitchcock "bomb under the table" suspense. It WOULD keep people on the edge of their seats.
Ditto with the scene with the King of the Nazgul. Remember the decision Gandalf has to make. Also keep in mind the scene surrounding that confrontation. The horror of the presence of the King of the Nazgul on the surrounding people can be tremendously powerful, also that Gandalf is afraid. He doe NOT know that he can beat this king, and the king of the Nazgul is tremendously confident that he will have Gandalf for lunch.
It's called TENSION, and it's something that neither you nor Jackson, who is, at heart, nothing more than an action film director, can get. Like you, Jackson's idea of subtlety is an arrow through the heart instead of a sword lopping off a head.
You can tell a great deal about the character of a man by observing those who hate him.