Tom Bombadil in LOTR movie

[Jason]

The whole Dernhelm thing is a bit odd even in the book, where Merry doesn't realise he is a she until the moment she unmasks herself before the Witch King of Angmar-which raises issuses about what Merrt knew about women But also in the book there is a bit where the Eroed (spell?) Dernhelm rides with ignore him/her, as if they know something is not right but just don't want to mention it.

I think wisely in the film they don't make too much fuss about it and I do feel the way they handled it was the best way given the limited film time they had (I just love the extended versions, all that extra time).

Yep the lack of reinforcements does weaken the plot and makes some of the scenes a little bit silly-eg where Denethor is sitting in his hall and does the bit about 'is there any captain here with the guts to fight' and apart form a few people right at the back of the hall the only person there is Faramir. Ok, I just wnated to see 500 knights in full armour and 700 men at arms march in Minas Tirith singing ...and you just know that any cavalry charge with them in it would kick thos orcs out of Osgiliath..ok so I'm also a sad Tolkien nut as well as being a sad AH type, sad re-enactor, sad museum person...

Oh, Peter Jackson, didn't he have a cameo as a hobbit? I know I recently saw a 'LotR Action figure' set in a local shop that not only had all nine of the Fellowship but also a 'free' 'Peter jackson as hobbit action figure'...

Uses for a Peter Jackson action figure on a postcard to...

I don't think that a lot of people in Rohan's army knew that "Dernhelm" was Eowyn. Merry (right?) knew she was because she talked to him, but I don't recall anyone else ever finding out. If someone else did, I would expect Theoden to send her home pronto--she was supposed to run Rohan in his absence.

I heard about the Tom-hat-cameo too.

Reinforcements from elsewhere in Gondor not arriving (the Prince from Dol Amroth) was weak, as was Denethor's character. He didn't just think Sauron was going to win, he had a full-blown death wish!

 

[Thande]

Of course it's the whole Shakespearean dynamic going with Dernhelm/Eowyn, isn't it? Firstly the woman disguised as man who goes to war, and secondly the Witch-king's 'cannot be killed by any living man' is reminiscent of 'cannot be killed by any man of woman born' from Macbeth.

Peter Jackson had many, many cameos.

 

[Jason]

You know I'd never considered the Macbeth link before but now you mention it...

I wonder if it's something about plump directors and cameos-Jackson, Hitchcock...

Of course it's the whole Shakespearean dynamic going with Dernhelm/Eowyn, isn't it? Firstly the woman disguised as man who goes to war, and secondly the Witch-king's 'cannot be killed by any living man' is reminiscent of 'cannot be killed by any man of woman born' from Macbeth.

Peter Jackson had many, many cameos.

 

[Thande]

I'm not sure if it was a conscious decision on Tolkien's part, but it certainly resonates.

Of course, it's a bigger revelation in the book when you don't know that Dernhelm is Eowyn until the fateful confrontation.

 

[MerryPrankster]

Peter Jackson did a cameo as one of the Corsairs of Umbar, though I think you only actually see him in the Extended Edition. Legolas gut-shoots him.

 

[Thande]

He was also a Rider of Rohan where Eomer's eored enricles Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas in The Two Towers.