if you know the story how Harvey Weinstein wanted to cut down Studio Ghibli out of pure pettiness as a power play, you understand how these garbage edits happen
Istr there being a story that sir Ian was always carrying the book around and coming up to the director pointing out ways how the shots could be made more correct.
The LOTR movie was full of absolute legends, from sir Ian suggesting lore accurate shots, to Christopher Lee showing Peter Jackson how people truly die when stabbed in the lungs.
I always thought that’s what Sam understood. The ring was fucking with Frodo and what Frodo was doing wasn’t normal so he stepped up. It’s like when your friend is tripping balls and paranoid but you’re still there to help.
He also doesn't ever abandon Sam or even think about taking Smeagols word over his. I get why the story structure of the movie demanded some kind of wrinkle at that point, but that's the one deviation from the books I never liked at all