The Temple of Khazad Doom

[doug*platypus]

At the risk of seeming behind the times, I'd like to bring up the latter Moria scenes from FOTR. I watched the DVD last night, and felt once again disappointment in some places, annoyance in others, and utter revulsion for a good few minutes before I left the room to do something else. <P>Everything up to and including the fight in the Chamber of Mazarbûl was fantastic. Well, not everything, but it <I>was</I> really good. The inclusion of chapter titles as dialogue is not very well thought out, so I didn't like Gandalf's urging the fellowship on "to the bridge of Khazad-Dûm". <P>The ridiculous number of orcs that descend upon our heroes could have been made believable, if they hadn't been so close (nevermind the fact that the orcs leaping from the pillars were obviously in rigs). The orcs have bows, and are not shy of using them, except here. The remarkable Mexican Stand-Off (as the Nazgûl and Frodo in TTT) that ensues is less reminiscent of Tolkien than of the dreadful Amidala scenes near the end of Star Wars Episode 1.<P>I appreciate the way PJ tried to build suspense with the Balrog, but I personally didn't like the way he was introduced. Also I think the fear of the orcs was grossly exaggerated. Legolas' expression (or lack of) is just one of those things you have to get used to. Although next to Sean Bean and Ian McKellen this becomes a tad harder than usual. <P>I could even forget about the way in which Gandalf prematurely tells Aragorn to lead the rest of the company on, pushes him forward and then somehow overtakes him, leaving Aragorn at the rear. It makes absolutely no sense, but then neither does most of the Two Towers movie, and in retrospect this isn't so bad.<P>But the next few minutes <B>will not stand</B>!! Peter Jackson interrupts the pace to tack on a ridiculously unfeasible scene with falling steps, toppling columns, and dwarf-tossing humour. "Lean forward"?! What madness is this? The entire concoction serves only to provide enough time for the Balrog to run around the long way and meet them near the bridge. At what point did the script writing team sit down and say to each other, "You know, this Moria thing really needs some excitement added to it."<P>I'd love to hear your thoughts on Aragorn and the Temple of Khazad Doom. I think they just needed to give Frodo a baseball cap and make him look a bit more like a Chinese kid. <P>Oh, yeah, while I'm ranting - I also didn't like the way that Gandalf was clinging on for a moment, before losing his grip (or letting go?). I put myself in the shoes of the fellowship. There's GANDALF, hanging on for dear life, 10 metres away, and the Balrog is already disposed of. You bet your sweet *ss I'm sprinting as fast as I can to try and help him up. That's exactly why Tolkien didn't have that moment of uncertainty in the book - it's unlreastic that at least Boromir or Aragorn didn't try to help him up.