Do tell me in what world would you actually expect any film production to cast and then costume those kind of numbers found in films like LOTR.

Let's take the Battle of the Pelennor Fields for example: 3,000 Gondorians 500 Guards of the Citadel 3,000ish South Gondorians and outlying provinces 6,000 Rohirrim cavalry soldiers 30 Northern Dunedain Tens of thousands of Orcs, Easterlings, Haradrim,Variags, oliphaunts and trolls.

I don't see any fine line here at all.