Lord of the Rings. The Two Towers

I am a little disappointed in how different the movie is from this book. It is a wonderful book, why all the changes? One thing I love about the book is how so many of the characters, although at first scary, turn out to be great people. In the book, the noble king Theoden rouses his people and marches nobly to war. This is changed in the movie, why? Also, Treebeard decides on his own that Merry and Pippin are okay. In the movie, he does not make that decision until Gandalf tells him they are good. The trees, after their long meeting, also decide AGAINST joining the war. In the novel, they decide to attack Isengard. Also, Boromir's brother starts to keep the ring for himself. He takes Frodo and Sam (and Smeagol) captive. He does not free them for quite a while, intending to turn the ring over to his kingdom. (finally, he does "see the light", although I'm not clear on what makes this happen in the movie) Maybe the director/producer of the film decided that it needed to be darker. The book really doesn't hold much tension. Most of this installment (as opposed to Book 1 and 2, The Fellowship of the Ring) is positive. It does not actually "show" the battles that are lost, but rather just the ones that are won.

When the group goes to the king,there is actually a skirmish before Gandalf can get to Theoden. And Saruman is actually possessing the king, instead of Wormtongue just holding him under a spell. Merry and Pippin meet Treebeard when he kills an Orc that is chasing them. Instead of regally riding off to battle, the king instead orders all his people to Helm's Deep to hide. While they are headed there, they are attacked. This is completely different from the book. Also, during the attack, Aragorn apparently falls off a high cliff? There is no such fall in the book.

Another difference which is not even keeping in the spirit of the story is the romance between Aragorn and the elf daughter. There is also romance sparking with the king's daughter. The elf daughter tells him he is meant to go with Frodo. Maybe he will find Frodo after he separates from Legolas and Gimli?

Sam and Frodo actually bicker over Smeagol. I think the movie does this so we know what is going on inside their heads. Frodo acts kind of a jerk, which he does not in the book. Sam says this is because the ring is taking him over. In the book, the ring does weigh heavily on him, but he does not become angry and snap at Sam. Smeagol argues with Gollum and banishes him for a bit anyway. He captures the rabbits without Sam asking him to. (in the book, Sam requests any kind of meat, because he is getting tired of Elf bread)

When Sam, Frodo, and Smeagol get to the gates of Mordor, it is very early in the movie. In the book, this is closer to the end. But the movie moves back and forth between the two plot lines. This makes sense to me, so that we stay interested and apprised of both stories. However, the two stories (Frodo/Sam and Legolas/Gimli/Aragorn, etc) are completely separated in the novel, and this helped me follow the story. I had a bit of trouble with Fellowship of the Ring, but I found I followed The Two Towers easily.

As they watch the gates of Mordor, they open, and there is an opportunity to run inside. This did not happen in the book. Also, Sam falls down the hill, and Frodo goes to help him. One of Mordor's soldiers comes to check on the dust that was raised, and Frodo uses their elf cloaks to hide them. I suppose this whole scene was invented to show us that the elf cloaks hide their wearers, which is mentioned numerous times in the book.

Again (as in The Fellowship of the Ring), the movie does not end where the book does. Far from it. The hobbits still have not climbed the stairs OR gone through the tunnel. I guess the movie producers spent too much time on the battles. I will look forward to seeing the huge spider in The Return of the King, the last film. I know these movies had great critical acclaim, but since I enjoyed the books (esp this one, more than the first one) I was a little perturbed at all the changes.