I am really surprised that everyone is so hung up on the Aragorn cliff scene.   To me it gave him a human element that I thought was missing - the man is not, nor should he be, invincible.   You can't have a film where everything is so predictable, and seeing a major character come close to death creates an element of doubt in the mind of the viewer - you now have a character who could easily fail, will they succeed?

By the way, I was trying to be sarcastic when I mentioned that the scene was an excuse to use Liv Tyler. While I am glad they expanded the relationship (which Tolkien wrote about in other works), I thought her inclusion was forced in Two Towers. One of my few problems with the film.

Maybe I like irony, which is what I read into the Scatman Crothers scene in The Shining. I hate a film where I know what the end will be, so adding elements is the filmmakers way of creating an interesting film. Lets face it, Tolkien's books were wonderful as books, but that doesn't make them perfect for the screen. Elements that are briefly mentioned in a paragraph need to be embellished on film in order to make sense. Other elements are fluff, such as the Tom Bombadill character, that can easily be removed.

From the comments I'm reading, I have to feel that people are clinging to the story they loved in the book too much. The books will always be great works of art and inspiration. The film does not take away from that.   The film adds another element to the lore and it tells the tale to another audience.

Ever read Baum's "Wizard of Oz"? I thought the books were great works of fantasy for their intended readers and I really enjoyed them when I was younger,but they are completely different from the film. Would I have given Judy Garland silver slippers? No, it would not have used the element of color as well. Would I have made Dorothy's Aunt and Uncle to be more grim as they were in the book?   It wouldn't have made sense.   Would I have liked to see some of the other adventures that appeared in the book make their way to the screen? As a fan, yes, but I think it would have bogged down the movie. As it stands, both book and film are classics. Disney attempted to capture some of the elements from the books in their "sequel", and the film bombed.

There is no reason to critique a film by comparing book to the film - you end up missing out on the beauty of each.

Ron