Gollums fall *STORY SPOILERS*

[Ainaromenel]

First of all I have to say that anyone who hasn't read the books and is going purely off the movies and is seriously wanting everything to be a surprise would be cautious enough that they would enter threads with titles that are blatenly obvious are not going to be giving away anything. That's just me though, and if you do not want to know extra stuff, I wouldn't read my response. I am not covering up stuff, so beware!

I would say the idea of Gollum loosing his ballance and falling over the edge is awesome and I think it would translate well to the screen. It shows an underlying theme in the books, that the small rises up and beats the bigger foe. Gollem was probably seeking after the ring in his own lust for it second only to Sauron. Sauruman really didn't know what it did, and was not so attatched to it as the other two, and all the Nazgul were only seeking it because they had to, to serve Sauron. Out of Sauron and Gollem, clearly Gollem is weaker, but isn't it ironic that the little pathetic creature ends up getting it back, rather than the monsterous dark lord? I think that's great in of itself. But then the fact that the ring itself is not boldly thrown over by Frodo or Sam (or even Arwen ), but rather Gollem accidentally slips and falls over. I think the only way the Ring of Power could have been destroyed in a more humble way is if it slipped off someone's hand and rolled off the precipe. I wouldn't have thought it nessecary, but obvious it is to say that Gollem accidentally fell. Yeah, the lust was eating him away, and it was torture, but I don't think that occured to him. The blind lust that filled him was his only thought when he held the ring again. He would not have just given it all up. He betrayed the oath he made on the ring to get the ring back! The ring was the ONLY thing on his mind, and to think that he would then suddenly realize that it was destroying him, after he just got it back? I think that is too much of a stretch.

As disappointed as I would be at messing up Gollem's fall in the last movie, I am more concerned that the Scourging of the Shire will be left out or played down, and that the solemn ending of the book with Sam returning to the Shire and sitting in his chair with his daughter will be altered or messed with. I think Tolkien wanted the emphases of the books to be more about returning to peace, rather that this really cool super violent ending to make everyone excited. Call me an idealist, but I like the way the book is, and I don't think it should be messed with. May I recall who spent their life working on it? Oh yeah, J.R.R. Tolkien. I say leave it the way he wrote it.

[Tuor of Gondolin]

Originally posted by Heather Wooltoes
"I still want to know how a critter with only six teeth (see Hobbit)bites off a finger to begin with."
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One last comment (I promise the last by me) on Gollum's teeth, in the Two Towers DVD he has (I think) 7 or 8 or teeth, all sharpened to a point. They don't meet, but they do mesh together, so, at least in concept they are still lethal tools. And they do show PJ's creative people having a credible concept of Gollum's teeth.
Hate to think of poor Smeagel having to gum his food! I don't suppose nassty woodelvses would make him wooden false teeth.

[hectorberlioz]

Gollum, by dying, 'saved' the day. Frodo, in the cracks of mount doom succumbed to the ring. If gollum hadnt bitten off frodo's finger with ring on it and danced around like a maniac and then fallen;frodo would not have destroyed it (sam would not be a help to destroy the ring)

[Rían]

Thanks for those quotes from "Letters", Tuor! I'm one of those that was really disappointed in Frodo when I first read the books, but JRRT's comments in "Letters" helped me see it a new way.

[Brill]

250-1: Arwen flies in on Gwaihir, gives them all a stern talking-to and tosses the Ring in herself.

100 bucks on that.

As many have mentioned, it was just fate. Gollum had a purpose, Gandalf said that Gollum mightve had some part to play, and he did.

It's my belief that if...for some reason the book was written differently and...gollum hadn't died before the ring was destroyed or when it was, he would have disintegrated, or aged like Bilbo did without it (Bilbo had it in his possession for alot less time than Gollum, so Gollum would have aged more and more rapidly). Gollum's life, like the lives of the Nazgul, was directly linked to the Ring. When the Ring was then destroyed, he had no purpose. It only made sense that he die, whether the schimatics worked or not.

My opinion, of course.

[The Gaffer]

Originally posted by Brill
100 bucks on that.

As many have mentioned, it was just fate. Gollum had a purpose, Gandalf said that Gollum mightve had some part to play, and he did.

Wanna send me your PayPal details??

Ah, yes, fate. I'm sure Gollum will bring about the Ring's destruction, however it happens. And I'm pretty sure that Frodo will claim it as his own. If these all happen, and oathbreaking is the antecedent, I'll leave the cinema a happy Gaffer.

Jackson has shown that he's going to pay more than lip service to the subtle workings of the Powers in Middle-Earth. He's kept in all the stuff about "you were meant to have it" and "Gollum may have a part to play".

We see also from the stills that the vision of the king's crown at the crossroads is in.

These are all ways in which fate turned out to be, maybe just at a metaphorical level, the will of the Powers at work. Or something

[Brill]

Ah, yes, fate. I'm sure Gollum will bring about the Ring's destruction, however it happens. And I'm pretty sure that Frodo will claim it as his own. If these all happen, and oathbreaking is the antecedent, I'll leave the cinema a happy Gaffer.

Maybe Orlando will do it, that would certainly please the majority of the people who will see it...

I also think it'll turn out that Frodo isn't as controlled by the ring as in the book, because, let's face it...everyone who has seen the movies and not read the book has this crystaline image of him...even AFTER movie 2.

[Black Breathalizer]

The latest issue of Fantasy Worlds includes an interview with Andy Sirkus. In it, he mentions that Peter Jackson filmed two versions of the ultimate destruction of the ring.

One was similar to the book (an act of fate) and the other was the outcome of the fight between Frodo and Gollum.

[hectorberlioz]

Hope and Pray that the previous gains the grounds for final cut.(even you should do this BB)

[Black Breathalizer]

Originally posted by hectorberlioz
Hope and Pray that the previous gains the grounds for final cut.(even you should do this BB)

I am praying that however it is handled, it FEELS realistic and natural. This scene carries the weight of all three films on its shoulders. So PJ needs to be very careful in his decision regarding which one to use.

[Tuor of Gondolin]

Originally posted by Black Breathalizer
"I am praying that however it is handled, it FEELS realistic and natural. This scene carries the weight of all three films on its shoulders. So PJ needs to be very careful in his decision regarding which one to use."
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Good observation. Almost profound. This scene could be one of those that decides whether the films are viewed as a critical success and serious oscar candidate, it will obviously continue to be popular and financially rewarding. The scene may be, I think, one of those like the expanded Arwen role (ignoring particulars here) and Sean Bean's Boromir, that in a film millieu may call for a different "interpretation".