I just went and saw the movie (T2T) for the 5th time last night. I went to see it four times during its opening weekend to help make up for all the slackers who didn't go until *after* the opening :-) It gets better everytime I see it. Plus, I'm catching bits of dialogue that I missed previously.
Re: Deagol and Smeagol - I've seen promotional pictures that show Deagol and Smeagol in their boat, so I think it was filmed. It will probably (hopefully?) be reinserted into the extended version of T2T. I think it will be put in where Frodo/Sam/Gollum are in the dead marshes, right after the scene where Frodo starts calling him Smeagol. In the dialogue between Slinker and Stinker, there's a place where the nasty Gollum calls Smeagol "...murrderrer...". I'm pretty sure that's a back reference to the murder of Deagol.
The only thing I didn't care for was the visualization of the wargs. They didn't seem wolfish enough. They looked like some big toothy marsupials having a bad hair day. I liked the way they fought, though. I've got three of the Games Workshop wargs painted up already. The models are better than the movie. The hair is more wolfish, which gives better delineation to the musculature. I'm going to run some skirmishes between them and the riders of Rohan using home-brewed rules.
I don't suppose I'm a Tolkien purist as far as minor plot points go. Watching a movie is a different thing from reading a book, so some approaches have to be different in order to generate the same enjoyment. How about this for a plot twist: the Elves get on their ships to the West, but Bill the Butcher and his cronies are waiting for them on the pier, and they all get enlisted to fight for the Union in the Civil War (seems they already have blue cloaks). Could you see the "Rivendell Rovers" brawling with the Bowery Boys and the Plug Uglies?
It's *all* just too much fun!
Love,
Steve
