I was watching “The return of the King” on channel four last night, and much as I believe that Peter Jackson did a great job bringing Tolkien to the big screen, I still feel a slight tinge of regret at one certain part of the film.
You see, the book contains perhaps my favourite scene from any book ever.
During the main battle at Minas Tirith, the witch king, using Grond, breaks the main gates of the city. He enters alone to find all defenders have fled, except for Gandalf, sitting wearily on his horse. They speak, and things look extremely grim for all concerned, but then, the wind changes!
Tolkien describes this scene masterfully. The wind changes, dawn has come, and with dawn a cock crows somewhere in the silence. But the sound of the cock crow does not die away, instead it rises, getting louder and louder until the realization that the noise is that of horns, horns blowing in the distance.
Rohan had come.
This is a scene that never fails to raise the hairs on my neck, and yet it wasnt even included in the film version. The extended edition has a confrontation between Gandalf and the Witch king, but it is markedly different than that which occured in the book. Now, I know everybody has their own ideas about what should or should not have been included in the films, but, objectively, I cannot figure out why this scene was not utilized? Done correctly, it could have been easily as awe inspiring as the “beacons” scene. Imagine, with cinema sound and scale, the noise coming from all around with no apparent source, as the camera moves slowly out from the city gates, across the confusion of battle to the big reveal of a massive Rohan army now lined across the horizon.
A big missed opportunity to my mind. Any others?
(As a side note, one addition for the films that I loved was when, after the charge of the Rohirrim, they turn to find a line of massive Oliphaunts now charging at them. That charge as the massive buggers picked up pace and smashed into the Rohirrim gives me goosebumps just to watch)