Well finally went to see the flick with the family.

Damn. I can't even imagine -- the "extended play" version of this mother must be 60 hours long; I still can't feel my legs 18 hours later.

I think Gandalf drop-kicking the Steward into the fire was a little over the top, although I could see it as a reasonable way of moving the story along.

Leaving out the Steward / Palantir thread though was a big mistake as you have nothing but hubris and bitterness at his first son's death to explain his being so down about defending Minas Tirith. They dropped the ball there, big time. (Sorry, couldn't help that one).