Incomplete list of great things the PJ LOTR films added that weren’t in the books
OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD– feel free to add on!
“I made a promise Mr Frodo— a promise! Don’t you leave him Samwise Gamgee. And I don’t mean to. I don’t mean to.”
In general all the scenes where there’s no words/dialogue, and the music and visuals and actor’s performances are allowed to carry the story instead….something that’s impossible to do in a book. The standout moment for me is the moment after the ring is destroyed, Bard-Dur collapses, and it’s portrayed as.relief beyond words.
THE SOUNDTRACK IN GENERAL
The scene in mount doom that’s like “don’t you let go. Don’t let go.”
The hobbits returning home to find everything the same, and being heartbroken because they’ve changed so much.. I’m not saying it’s better than the book’s plotline where they returned home to find the Scouring of the Shire™, but it’s impactful in a completely different way
The scene where Eowyn hears Theoden’s last words, instead of Merry hearing them like he did in the books. Again, not necessarily “better,” but impactful in a different way
“my brother, my captain….. my king.”
Flm!Boromir in general. He’s a drastically different character than he was in the books, and YMMV on which version you like better, but I’m so glad film!Boromir is here
“No parent should have to bury their child.”
Arwen’s expanded role in general, and the way they we actually got to see her make her choice to stay in Middle Earth
That subplot in the Two Towers where Aragorn tames a wild unruly horse, basically becoming the protagonist of a Horse Girl Movie
The way they moved around a lot of the dialogue to places that made it hit differently. .Like in the books Gandalf says the line “many that live deserve death– and some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them?” when he’s still in the Shire with Frodo. But in the films, he says it in Moria instead, in his last conversation with Frodo before his own death.