10 Worst Changes Peter Jackson Made To The Lord Of The Rings

Peter Jackson torpedoed Faramir's character arc...

Haldir Lord of the Rings
New Line Cinema

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy is without a doubt the greatest adaption of literature put to the big screen. It took years of planning and preproduction - the shooting schedule ran from 1999 all the way up until 2003 - and the script was being changed right down until the final cut was complete. If the dedicated army of fans and the huge Oscar sweeps are anything to go by, Peter Jackson and his team nailed it.

Inevitably, Jackson was going to make a few changes to J.R.R. Tolkien's work in order to condense the tale into a film format. However, for the most part, the changes were necessary to translate the story onto the big screen. There was no way the New Zealander was shooting the Council of Elrond in its entirety, as it would have taken up half the movie. But still, certain changes were somewhat questionable...

In some cases, these alterations might seem insignificant, but they had the effect of reducing down many of Tolkien's themes and ideas until they were barely recognisable on the silver screen.

10. Removing The Warg Attack On The Fellowship

Haldir Lord of the Rings
Dynamite Entertainment

Jackson was never going to be able to include all of Tolkien's original writing in the films. If he had, he'd mostly likely still be shooting. But one of the most captivating scenes from the first book was omitted for apparently no good reason at all.

During the Fellowship's journey through the Pass of Caradhras, they are forced to head for the Gates of Moria. While they find shelter, they hear voices on the wind. In the film the voice was Saruman summoning a storm to bring down the mountain, but in the books this turns out to be the howling of wargs.

The Fellowship have to desperately fight throughout the night to hold back the foul beasts. They kill many but eventually Gandalf is forced to use his magic, lighting the hilltop in a torrent of flame and driving the remaining wargs away. In the morning the Fellowship are unable to find any of the beast they killed.

It's one of the first real challenges the Fellowship face and serves to show the mysterious and ominous power of the servants of evil. It also shows Gandalf's unwillingness to use magic due to its draining effect and the attention it would bring to the Fellowship's movements - something Jackson barely touches on in the trilogy.

Contributor

Before engrossing myself in the written word, I spent several years in the TV and film industry. During this time I became proficient at picking things up, moving things and putting things down again.