That is an example of where "that happened, but not quite like that." Glorfindel was replaced by Arwen. I can handle that.
Granted, the Aragorn "death" was a total change, but it was used to work in material from the Arwen relationship, which is in the books.
Yes, that material is in the books, and I'm glad to see it. But Aragorn's absence had consequences to the story. Now Legolas, Gimli, Theoden, and Eowyn have to spend time remarking on his absence (which didn't happen in the books) and going over the issues of doubt and rekindling one another's hope (that didn't happen in the books, either. At least, Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas had great faith, having seen Gandalf returned to them.) Aragorn could have dreamed about Arwen anytime he slept between Edoras and Helm's Deep. Even on the eve of battle. That's an example of "That didn't happen. At all." And that is much harder for me to accept.
And the warg attack was something that could have happened in the books, but been ommitted for editing reasons.
Well, a Warg attack did happen in the books. To the Fellowship on the way to Moria. That could have been placed in the DVD. I didn't mind seeing it as a part of Tolkien's story per se, but it did eat up time and served only to set up the disruptive and questionable necessity of the Dream Sequence.
Likewise, the trip to Osgiliath was not in the books, but it works in material and dialogue that were in the books, and ties it together thematically with what is going on in Gondor, which the viewer would otherwise be unaware of.
But you missed another disruption: Sauron knows where the Ring is and who has it. It will take some new tale-telling (re-writing Tolkien's story) to make him believe that Aragorn has it (or will have it)
I suspect that PJ's changes will make a lot more sense once we have seen ROTK and can judge the series of movies as a whole.
But Tolkien already handled all those issues. Peter didn't have to change or invent parts of the story to account for those things. I don't deny that Jackson will create a rousing Return of the King. But it's no longer Tolkien's story that we'll be enjoying in 2003. It'll be Jackson's own conclusion to Tolkien's story.
But you missed another disruption: Sauron knows where the Ring is and who has it. It will take some new tale-telling (re-writing Tolkien's story) to make him believe that Aragorn has it (or will have it)
This changes nothing at all. So, Sauron "knows" the ring is in Gondor, and he assumes that someone powerful will step forward and seize the ring and try to use it against Sauron. And then Aragorn announces himself to Sauron via the Palantir, confirming Sauron's worst fears, and causing him to unleash his armies before he was fully ready.
How has PJ's changes effected any of this? Not at all, except in the books, Sauron is guessing, whereas in the movie, we see a visual representation of how Sauron comes to think that the ring really has arrived safely in Gondor (he would not expect the ringbearer to head immediately for Mordor, let alone that the Gondorians would let him go). So it works out the same as in the book, in spite of the changes.
PJ's changes aren't ones I would have made, probably, but I think they will work out just fine once ROTK is in theaters. Some people just need to chill out and enjoy the movie. I trust PJ's movie making instincts more than I trust the abilities of the Tolkien purists to produce workable cinema. PJ's changes are not my changes, but then I know squat about making films.