Stupid Elf Tricks...

[Essex]

Originally Posted by Anguirel

But with Faramir, aside from the slightly ridiculous plot-holes caused by the Nazgul sequence

Sorry can't help myself get dragged into a faramir argument. What plot hole? I'm all for pointing out plot holes when they happen in the movies (the power of the Ring etc) - bur movie Faramir SHOT DOWN the fell beast and the nazgul (that's why there were only 8 at the gates of mordor later on) - so he didn't go back to report to his master. and shortly afterwards Pippin loks into the Palantir and BANG there's the halfling with the Ring for Sauron to concentrate on.........

Also, as PJ said in the EE comentary, they were transposing the scene from Minas Morgul to Osgiliath (you know, where Frodo is tempted to put on the Ring by the Witch King as he sets off to War) - so not TOTALLY sacrligeous to the story............

anyway, don't mind me, let's get back to the Leggy bashing....................

[Gurthang]

I actually agree about Faramir. I hate the way he is so different from the book, but looking at the movie alone, I think he is rather consistent, and would have really enjoyed his character, had I not known book Faramir already.

Truthfully, the shield surfing did not bother me. I thought it was actually quite cool. The reason that the horse-jump is just so physically and anatomically impossible that it makes me groan. The mumakil scene didn't bother me so much initially, except when he slides down the trunk and has the hideously smug look on his face. I can't even explain why, but it just infuriates me to no end. The only relief is Gimli's hilarious reply.

[Anguirel]

Originally Posted by Essex

Sorry can't help myself get dragged into a faramir argument. What plot hole? I'm all for pointing out plot holes when they happen in the movies (the power of the Ring etc) - bur movie Faramir SHOT DOWN the fell beast and the nazgul.

He shot down the beastie; we know from Gandalf's comment to Legolas in FOTR that that does not kill the rider...but I agree, we're off-topic.

[Lalaith]

Essex's initial point is excellent. It doesn't matter if things in the films are silly in the context of our real world, what matters is if they are convincing in the context of the cinematic Middle Earth.
There were things about the films that bugged me deeply but Legolas' action tricks (and Legolas in general) were certainly not among them. I wasn't crazy about the horse-jumping but that was because I thought it looked badly done, technically speaking: it seemed blurred and jumpy. The troll-killing Gurthang points at was a bit blurry too, as I remember.

The shield-surfing looked convincing however, and was actually one of the best bits in TTT, as far as I was concerned. A bit of crowd-pleasing fun which was genuinely funny, as opposed to the demeaning belching routine inflicted on Gimli, which I hated. I didn't think the surfing was "modern," in fact it was rather sweetly old-fashioned, cinematically speaking. Orlando Bloom isn't really an "actor", he's more in the old-school matinee idol mould, like Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn, and his stunts are just part of that tradition.
(Unlike young Mr Bloom who is lucky enough to live an age of computerised assistance, Douglas Fairbanks had to do it all himself: his trademark stunt was descending a curtain or ship sail by putting a sword into it and hanging on as it cut downwards. The sword was secretly bolted into a sliding mechanism behind the fabric, but still, it was an extremely difficult and dangerous trick to manage...)

[Reg Pither]

Originally Posted by Lalaith

The shield-surfing looked convincing however, and was actually one of the best bits in TTT, as far as I was concerned.

I didn't realise TTT was that bad!