TolkienMovies.com
June 26, 2001

Tom is Gone... Hooray!
Simon M.

The debate goes on and on and on.. will Jackson make a good movie.. won't Jackson make a good move? Will the characters be how Tolkien wrote them... won't they be how Tolkien wrote them? Week after week the fires are kept burning with the debate. Well, seeing as so many people have had their view, it's about time Dante brought his opinions to the table.

Firstly the cutting of Tom B. What more can I say except.. good! Besides the fact that the Barrows would be pretty cool, and yes finding the sword, blah, blah, blah... for the majority of the cinema going world Tom would be seen as a pointless character with no role expansion within the movie, or the other two that will follow. Instant reaction: what a pointless section. Now, don't get me wrong the character of Tom is not pointless, I understand that, but would anyone who has not read Tolkien?

And that's the whole point, surely? Jackson is setting out to make a movie... okay so it's three movies, but hey-ho. A lot of time, money and effort is going into these movies, and so the studio is going to expect a return on them (with profits for each getting larger with each subsequent release, eg, The Two Towers will reap more than FotR). If Jackson was to include a hippy chap sprouting poetry when the majority of the audience is waiting for battles, Ringwraiths, and the much anticipated appearance of the Balrog in Moira, then one would suspect that the films would lose appeal. The majority of people won't be going to see how 'Jackson potrays the Legend', they'll be wanting to see a damn fine MOVIE, using the best source material possible.

Besides which, the BRILLIANT BBC adaptation missed out Tom B, and he wasn't missed.

So, to wrap up rant number one: Tom B. is gone! Calloh-Callay! The movie-going audience can rest easy in their beds, and look forward to the movie event.