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The Complete List of Film Changes

General Changes
The Fellowship of the Ring
...Part 1
...Part 2
...Part 3
The Two Towers
Return of the King

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General Changes

Many Songs and Poems Cut

FILMS: Most (although not all) of the songs and poems from the books are eliminated. However, Philippa Boyens did write a poem called "The Revelation of the Ringwraiths" for the soundtrack.

BOOKS: There are many poems and songs.

PRO: According to Peter Jackson, "It's a difficult thing to work into the dramatic telling of the story."

CON: The songs and poems give the story much of its depth and charm.

SUPPORTED BY:

CREDIBILITY: 4/5
Updated Funnier Dialog

GimliFILMS: Although much of the dialog will be lifted from the books, there will be various alternations here and there. In particular, the banter between Legolas and Gimli will be more comedic, and Gimli will use expressions like "laddie." According to an interview with Sean Astin, the Sam character veers toward "cowardly comic relief."

BOOKS: The dialog has relatively little humor.

PRO: The dramatic pacing of films is such that comic relief is needed to alleviate tension. Also, humor helps us warm to the characters more quickly.

CON: The script would require additional dialog written by the scriptwriters rather than by Tolkien, and this comedic dialog would trivialize the characters.

SUPPORTED BY:

CREDIBILITY: 4/5

Note: According to Jersey The One Ring messageboard post 4/13/01, some of the audition script lines that most irk Tolkien fans do NOT appear in the final scripts.

Sam Talks to Frodo as a Peer

Frodo and SamFILMS: Sam addresses Frodo by his first name, as he would a peer.

BOOKS: Sam is more subservient, addressing Frodo as "Mr. Frodo" or "Master."

PRO: Modern audiences would not understand or accept a servant-master relationship.

CON: The servant-master relationship is an important element of the characters' relationship and hobbit culture. Changing it smacks of political correctness.

SUPPORTED BY:

  • FRODO - SCENE 2 Audition Script 1/13/99 (first report)
  • SAM - SCENE 2 Audition Script 1/13/99 (details)

CREDIBILITY: 1/5

Intercut Storylines

FILMS: The scene of Frodo and Sam traveling from Parth Galen to Mount Doom and those involving the other characters will be intercut(similarly to how The Empire Strikes Back, to use a familiar example, switches between the scenes of Luke in Dagobah and those involving the other characters).

BOOKS: Their respective storylines are separated into lengthy "books."

PRO: According to screenwriter Fran Walsh, the books' separated storylines "is a narrative structure that lends itself to literature much more than film. When Tolkien was writing the book, intercutting wasn't something that was so prevalent in literature - though it is starting to be now, and partly I think because of the influence of films."

CON: Intertwining the storylines would drastically interfere with the story's timeline and ruin many of the surprises that occur when what group of characters does not know what happened to the other.

SUPPORTED BY:

CREDIBILITY: 4/5

Gollum's Role Expanded

Gollum enjoys a fishFILMS: According to screenwriter Philippa Boyens, "Gollum, one of our favorites, was probably expanded rather than limited. I think when you see the film, what will be interesting is how huge his role will be when it's played out in the movie. Because as strong a presence as hei s in the book, he is much more so in the movie."

PRO: Focusing the story on the Ring and its effects on characters necessarily expands Gollum's presence in the story because he is central to that theme.

CON: Expanding Gollum's role requires the creation of dialog not written by Tolkien.

SUPPORTED BY:

  • Sc(i)pt Magazine Fran Walsh / Philippa Boyens Interview 11/1/01 (first report)

CREDIBILITY: 3/5

Go to The Fellowship of the Ring Part 1 >>

The Complete List of Film Changes

General Changes
The Fellowship of the Ring
...Part 1
...Part 2
...Part 3
The Two Towers
Return of the King

Want to add a change we missed?  Contact Us!

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