There are few fantasy movies that have been quite as influential and successful as The Fellowship of the Ring. Even twenty years after it hit theaters, it continues to exert a powerful pull on the imagination and on the genre as a whole. While it is a masterpiece of filmmaking, it also has to be said that it took quite a few liberties with the original novel on which it is based.

RELATED: 10 Quotes That Prove Galadriel Is The Best Elf In The Lord Of The Rings Movies

And, even after all of these years, some of these changes are still of a degree that fans think that they detract from the quality of the story.

The Fireworks Display

Merry and Pippin in Lord of the Rings

One of the most notable events in the opening part of the movie is the fireworks display, and it goes slightly awry when Merry and Pippin accidentally set off one in the shape of a dragon. While it’s played for laughs, it actually takes something away from the scene as related in the book.

As readers know, the dragon was a deliberate design of Gandalf’s and an homage to Bilbo’s adventures against Smaug as related in The Hobbit. To have it be just an accident makes it much less charming.

The Erasure Of Farmer Maggot

Sam and Frodo leave The Shire

There are many great hobbit characters in the movie, but one that gets cut out, except for a very brief glimpse, is Farmer Maggot. In the book, he proves to be a key ally to the hobbits as they try to escape the Shire, and he represents a certain kind of earthy and homespun wisdom that is a key aspect of the hobbit character.

While it’s understandable that he would be taken out–given the many other characters that appear–it still takes something away from the vision of the Shire that the movies offer.

The Hobbits Don’t Meet The Elves While Leaving The Shire

The elves in Lord of the Rings

As the book unfolds, the hobbits begin to encounter the wider world, and an important exchange happens when they encounter the Elves leaving Middle-earth. This scene is completely absent from the theatrical version and only briefly included in the extended editions–one of many great scenes in those versions–but Frodo and Sam just watch the departing immortals rather than speaking with them.

RELATED: 10 Unmistakable Aragorn Character Traits In Lord Of The Rings

This is an unfortunate alteration since the words of the Elves will come to have significant consequences for Frodo as his journey continues.

Not Including Tom Bombadil

JRR Tolkien leaning against a tree

In the books, Tom Bombadil is a very strange character, and it remains unclear just what he is. However, he is still an important part of the novel, and not just because he offers the hobbits sanctuary for a time.

He’s completely absent from the movies–one of many characters in the books that don’t appear–and though his part is relatively minor in terms of plot, it’s still a change that many fans wish hadn’t been made. Given how powerful he was, he surely deserved at least a few minutes of screen-time.

The Hobbits Aren’t Captured By A Barrow-wight

A barrow wight from the Lord of the Rings game War in the North

Tom Bombadil isn’t the only character that gets taken out, for the same is true of the barrow-wights, the sinister creatures that inhabit the old tombs near Tom’s house.

While this is a relatively minor change for many, it actually has consequences for the other movies, since the blade that Merry uses against the Witch-king only works because it was from Numenor and extracted from the tomb by Tom. Its exclusion removes some of the richness and depth of the movie’s world.

The Depiction Of Bree

Strider in the tavern in Bree in The Lord of the Rings

In the books, the village of Bree is a relatively welcoming place, at least until Frodo accidentally slips on the Ring. Even then, the people of the village seem very much like those of the Shire.

In the movie, however, it’s a much more sinister location, with muddy streets, dirty residents, and an air of hostility that couldn’t be more different than the books. While it’s clearly meant to show how far Frodo and his friends have come from their comfortable homes, it still feels like a betrayal of the town that book fans had gotten to know and appreciate.

Sam’s Lackluster Gift From Galadriel

Galadriel smiles at Gimli's shyness in Fellowship of the Ring

There are few beings in Middle-earth more powerful than Galadriel, and it makes sense that she offers the Fellowship a number of gifts. While most of these match their book counterparts, she only gives Sam a bit of rope, in contrast to the soil from her garden that she gives him in the book.

Since they cut out the Scouring of the Shire this makes sense, but it’s still an unfortunate change, especially since Sam doesn’t seem very fond of his gift.

The Wounding Of Frodo

Frodo dying from his wounds in The Lord of the Rings

Frodo is arguably the best hobbit in the movies, but even so, he has a number of key differences from his novel counterpart. In the book, his wounding at the hand of the Witch-king is grievous, but he still contains some of his old self.

RELATED: 10 Characters With The Most Screentime In The Lord Of The Rings Movies

In the movies, by contrast, he immediately becomes very weak and sick, and he spends most of the rest of the first half bundled along by others. It’s an unfortunate change, and it makes Frodo look much weaker than he is.

Not Including Glorfindel

Arwen fleeing from the Ringwraiths to save Frodo in Fellowship of the Ring

Even though the relationship between Arwen and Aragorn is one of the best in the movies, the inclusion of this secondary character from the novels led to the exclusion of Glorfindel. In the books, he is the one who rescues Frodo and his companions before they reach Rivendell instead of Arwen. T

hough this was another of the more understandable changes, it is still unfortunate to see such a major figure in Middle-earth lore excluded.

Nuclear Galadriel

Galadriel influenced by the Ring in The Lord of the Rings

Galadriel is without a doubt one of the best elves in the movies, and she has a number of great quotes to prove it. One of those is the moment when she declares what she would do if she had the Ring.

However, the depiction of this moment, in which Galadriel goes “nuclear,” was a questionable change that fans still do not appreciate. In the book, it’s a much more subdued moment, though still important, and this bit of special effect magic feels like a cheap move.

NEXT: Every Lord of the Rings & Hobbit Movie Ranked, Worst to Best