I just got back from it and I loved the movie and I will see it soon on matinee. However I had a couple of serious problems beyond the complete lack of agricultural facilities anywhere in Gondor and they involved the military aspects of the movies.
Both Helms Deep and Minas Tirith were fortresses that were designed by their very nature to withstand seige and bombardment for long periods of time. Fortresses are designed so small garrisons can hold off massive beseiging armies. Midevil and early modern European history normally indicates that a prepared fortress with resolute defenders could withstand bombardment for weeks at a time and they rarely quickly fell unless good surrender terms were offered or massive trickery was used. However Minas Tirith started to fall apart as soon as it was hit with a single projectile. Helms Deep was tougher as its walls were only breached by gunpowder which is far more realistic, but neither fortress held up well to bombardment.
My second major complaint of the movies' military sense was the vast supremecy of calvary over infantry in most situations. In the Two Towers the calvary patrol that allowed Merry and Pippin to escape makes sense, infantry being surprised in relatively open ground will get slaughtered. However at both Helms Deep and Minas Tirith, calvary charged disciplined, well equipped infantry that was equipped with both pole and missile weapons and ran right over the infantry. As a friend of mine said at Two Towers "What the Orcs needed were a regiment of Swiss Pike" to hold the line.
Finally, where the hell were the logistics units? I never saw a food cart, I never saw a spare horse, I never saw an ambulance etc.
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2003 | 2 |
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