Stupid Elf Tricks...

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by mormegil

I believe what the point Saucey was making is that Legolas was walking on the snow with little imprint and that's not technically possibly yet in a fantasy world it is.

Indeed. My point was that some characters, including Legolas, display "superhuman" abilities in the book. So, it is hardly fair to criticise Jackson for portraying the same or similar abilities, solely because they are improbable in our terms.

Originally Posted by Roa_Aoife

Saucy makes good points, but I think another reason these stunt stand out so much is their incredible similarity to extreme sports. Legolas looks less like an Elf doing typical Elf stuff, and more like a skateboarder or surfer.

Quite so. That's the point that I was grappling for, but didn't quite get hold of. You put it very well. It's why the shield-surfing rankles with me, while the other "stunts" don't particularly bother me. It's more Tony Hawkes than Middle-earth, and so it "breaks the spell" and takes me out of the fantasy world.

Originally Posted by Roa_Aoife

Perhaps not anatomically impossible, but certainly in violation of the laws of Physics.

As I recall, it seemed to me when I watched that sequence that it necessarily involved Legolas' arm passing through his upper body. Or something like that. "Superhuman" abilities I can live with. Anatomically impossible maneuvres I cannot.