Originally Posted by
pathoftheturtle
Well, it's never really possible to adapt a story from one medium to another with no changes. In this case, they'll be making a statement about the philosophy of the work either way.
i completely agree that things will have to be changed, we all know that.
but in my opinion, you cant change some very important details. smaller details that affect HOW the plot unfolds, yes. but changing certain things alters the whole interpretation of the story, and that should not be done. King made a very big deal of that Horn, and to present it at any other time is just poor understanding of its importance.
an example where we see plenty of discrepancy between book and movie is LOTR. There were many liberties taken with the telling of the story, but the fundamental elements remained intact, and that's why it worked so well. For instance, they couldn't separate The Two Towers into half a movie about Merry and Pippin then half a movie about the rest. It just would not have fit the flow of a movie, and we understand that. There were even many omissions (ie, Tom Bombadil) and character alterations. Specifically, Frodo is by and large a much more cowardly character in the movies than in the books. Escaping the Nazgul after fighting them at Weathertop are scenes in the book that portray him as very brave and courageous, yet both incidents were altered drastically in the movie. But such changes did not formulate a re-telling of the story. while the characters are slightly different, the end result is the same.
Roland already holding the Horn of Eld would completely change the story in a fundamental way. It automatically will set Roland up as a more heroic and nostalgic character in the viewer's eyes. The books however, tell the story of a man who constantly battles between his need to save the Tower and his haunted memories of what he has done to meet that end. It is in this character struggle that we come to understand his complexity. The horn is a symbol of Roland's humanity, and if presented at the beginning of his quest it loses all meaning. Unless,
also, in regards to this:
i feel that this must be addressed because we start seeing the theme as early as DT5. so it cannot be omitted, though the second half of that with the movie asserting itself is very interesting, I hadn't thought of that. I would still maintain that it is different than the Horn though. Specifically that detail needs to remain in the story as it is.