To some degree I agree with you. On others I can not. as I said. Let us use the example of Chris's idea that there should be a repressed romance as in Star Wars. A.) This isn't star wars. B.) it worked in Starwars because that was how it was suppose to be for those two characters. There was repressed love between the princess and Han Solo. There is no repressed love in Lord of the Rings.

As in any movie of such incredible undertaking. Some things and events will have to change. There are far too many minor characters (Yet just as important) who have to be removed because of the time factor. And there are things that may look ridiculous on the screen that have to be changed, and some that will look awesome that have to be played for all their worth. But you can't change so much that you're no longer true to the story because it just won't work. There will forever be examples of movies that are exactly as the story that suck, and reverse, movies that stick to the story that totally rock. There is no happy medium. You can't please everyone all the time... which is why I say, since you can't please everyone no matter what you do, Give tribute to the creator of the beloved story, and don't mess with it too much that it turns his creation into something just barely recongizable. Thats all you can do. If you change the story to please one group, the loyal fans will hate it and thats that. You keep it true to the script and loyal fans may love it, but new comers may not. So now you have to think of it in this way. Which is the greater good. change the story to please one group, create it to please the other group... or go by how you think the creator of this wonderful gem of a story would want it to be done. I say its the last of the three.

Hugs****Drea