Eragon; error full

Last night Eragon was on TV and I was reminded of just how disappointing the movie was. I had really looked forward to seeing it when it came out, having loved the book as well as its sequel. Anyway, my husband and I used up one of our rare nights out to go see it in the theater, and man, was that a waste. Not that the movie itself was that bad (you can't expect much from a first time director and the writer of Jurassic park 3): it's not going to be on the top of anyone's list, but it isn't the worst of all time either (The Black Hole anyone?). The problem is that the movie barely resembles the book at all. Now I am not a purist by anymeans, I fully accept changes from source material when it is necessary for cinematic purposes. Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings movies are perfect examples of this: nothing was changed that was absolutely necessary. When you have an epic novel obviously certains things need to be cut out or manipulated to make the movie a reasonable length and to draw in new fans. None of the changes in Eragon did this. Instead we had expanded character parts (John Malkovich overacting as Galbatorix, an character only referred to in the book), and a ridiculous ending battle that bear no resemblance to the book (flying smoke demons?). It is such a shame that this movie did such a disservice to the book, its author and the fans - it had the potential to bring to life a wonderful story and introduce new people to the world of Eragon and his dragon (explore it here). Hopefully some day someone with good intentions and actual directing (and screen writing) abilities will make the movie the book deserves.