wwsd said:
I don't know why they changed it, but I can tell you why this wasn't the case in the OT: because it's self-defeating and pointless. Pointless, pointless, pointless. It would be like giving Dumbledore a large staff instead of a wand. Or having the film adaptation of "Return of the King" decided by a swordfight between Aragorn and some physical form of Sauron. I believe they actually considered doing that. Luckily, they didn't, and the LotR films are still a good example of a respectable film adaptation for a book that's difficult to transfer to the big screen without angering lots of fans.
It is self defeating to right, and yeah agree it is difficult to adapt works to the big screen.