The Ensemble

[Iarnarwen]

hi all! this is my first msg on the community. ha! though i have been a LOTR fan for sometime.
Anyway, i have watched TTT twice now, and read some reviews by fellow fans. Many have mentioned certain cast members who did exceptional jobs in the movie, but i would just like to say that what really impresses about LOTR is the fact that the entire ensemble cast is really brilliant. Not one actor did not do at least an above decent job portraying their character. An important theme in Tolkiens books is the fact that there isnt always one hero in an epic, and fellowship members like Gimli, Sam and Legolas, while having comparatively little screen time, do a lot at deepening the characterisations of main characters like Frodo and Aragorn. :battle:
that said, Legolas rocks!

[Tar-Ancalimë]

welcome, Iarnarwen! I suggest you go post in the welcome forum and give people a chance to greet you :)

i agree, i thought the actors were wonderfully cast. esp the new ones, even those whose parts were somewhat... unTolkien :rolleyes: lol

[Iarnarwen]

Hi! :wave:
i just went over to post my greeting at the Welcome forum. Thanks for telling me! By the way, im a super big Legolas/Orlando fan! Read the thread on the cyberwar between Leggy and anti-Leggy people...ahhah..very amusing..nice to meet you!

[Galadriel]

I thought the cast did an otustanding job. and by the way I am a big legolas fan too.

[Bena]

Me three on the Legolas admiring! You're right about it being an ensemble effort-no one person could carry the movie on their own. They should add a new category onto the Oscars-Best Teamwork in a Motion Picture, that way LOTR would have to win.

[Iarnarwen]

Me three on the Legolas admiring! You're right about it being an ensemble effort-no one person could carry the movie on their own. They should add a new category onto the Oscars-Best Teamwork in a Motion Picture, that way LOTR would have to win. [/B][/QUOTE]

hahaha...hi there fellow Leggy lovers! haha...i do agree that some award should be set up for ensemble effort though, like some award shows already do.
i found the interaction between Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli particularly touching in TTT. Thought that Orlando did a brilliant job at displaying his loyalty to Aragorn, particularly the part when aragorn fell over the cliff and King Theoden asked the men to 'leave the dead behind"..did you see his watery eyes???oh my!:naughty: :naughty: :naughty: though i hated that addition to the storyline..ha..

Iarnarwen out! :archer:

[Windwater Elf]

Yes, I would say that the whole cast is perfect in their respective roles. I am a fan of Legolas as well. He is such a beautiful character. I also love all the elves.

[Iarfirithwen]

Guess what. The ensemble has already WON an award (just before it went into general release for most countries):
They've won a special achievement award for Oustanding Ensemble.
------------
International Press Academy: Golden SATELLITE Awards (http://www.pressacademy.com/ipa/ipa-satnom-2003special.html):
Winners
2003 7th Annual Golden SATELLITE Awards: Special Achievement

OUTSTANDING MOTION PICTURE ENSEMBLE
LORD OF THE RINGS: TWO TOWERS
--------------
:hooray:
And having seen the movie (a few times now) I can say I think it is totally deserved. I have never seen such an amazing cast together in a single film before. I do wonder though whether ensemble in this case is just the cast ensemble or do they mean cast and crew. Because the huge crew was also pretty darn amazing to say the least. I mean their passion for the films is simply staggering.

[Tar-Ancalimë]

oh yes... thats awesome that theyre getting awards for it, i personally love every one of them (cept perhaps Serkis... but thats another subject :mmmm: ) and wow, i love both of these movies... a lot of the credit goes to crew and cetera, but the actors were fab!

[Iarnarwen]

Iar: i should think that the ensemble award is usually for the cast alone..their acting chemistry and strength as a whole..

i find it amazing how the casting was so brilliant that i found it easy to actually believe each actor was really the role he played. Eg. Haldir, Galedriel ( i know, spelling is prob wrong ) and Legolas were particularly convincing as elves, Gimli the dwarf excellent, and i cannot help thinking of the four hobbit actors as being four feet tall now! ;)

[Arwen Undomiel]

i would have to agree that i think peter jackson made excellent casting choices; i mean, so many gorgeous guys in one film!!!! the whole trilogy is a non-stop drool-fest!!!!roflmao

in relation to the extended version of fotr, i think galadriel's performance was enhanced by her additional scenes and i really believe she IS galadriel. the interaction between her and aragorn is stunning and intimate i.e. when she tenderly strokes his cheek, and she speaks elvish so beautifully and melodically! quel uma cate blanchett!

i reckon lij was born to play frodo baggins! as was viggo mortensen (mmmmm - vanimawe!) with aragorn and ian mckellen with gandalf!

tenna' telwan' quelmellonea amin!

[Iarfirithwen]

Originally posted by Iarnarwen
Iar: i should think that the ensemble award is usually for the cast alone..their acting chemistry and strength as a whole..

Iar lol
I agree. Thats usually the case. Thats usually how say cast of the West Wing get it etc, but the reason I queried that it might be more in this case is that its a Special Achievement Award. Special Achievement awards usually go that little bit further, lifetime achievement to the advancement of cinema yadda yadda (i.e., George Lucas will receive a special achievement award in RECOGNITION FOR VISIONARY ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE WORLD OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY AND SOUND). Its most likely just for cast, but I wondered :)

Iar lol

[Iarnarwen]

Iar lol is that your name in Elvish? Coz mine is! i was so happy when i went to the converter and found such a nice translation...

hmm...i dunno about the award thing though...yeah, i think if you were one of the 5000 extras working on the film, or one of the many behind the scenes personnel..it would be extremely gratifying to see your film get such an award...its too easy to forget them...:)

Orlando should get an award for the most definitive horse mounting moment :p and most attractive pointy-eared man roflmao

[Arwen Undomiel]

*sobs unhappily* my name can't be translated to elvish!! :(

i don't think orlando should get an award for his horse mounting; the special effects team, as a whole, should receive an accolade, 'cos orli didn't perform the stunt. it's virtually impossible.

[Iarnarwen]

haha...yeah...just blabbering...ignore me...:p i din mean an award for him though..just the whole scene...

[Arwen Undomiel]

blabbering is good for the soul! :)

[Iarnarwen]

yeah..Orli/Leggy just gets me that way...

i was trying real hard to think of who would have made just as good a Legolas..guess what..i cannot think of one..any ideas? ;)

[Arwen Undomiel]

hmmm - verrry tricky! he's just got that pretty elf-like look!

[Iarnarwen]

yeah tell me about it.. :rolleyes: lol

i think of all the races, Elves are prob the most difficult to find..in terms of suitable actors i mean...they need to have this special air about them..that x factor...humans, dwarves and hobbits are prob easier to replace..hmm...
though wizards are very tricky too...Ian McKellen is irreplaceable..ha...:)

[Iarfirithwen]

Iar lol that was me translated into Elvish but apparently they got it wrong ..its different now :huh: but I liked this one better so I'm keeping it. (Yep off the barrow-downs site).

Its funny you should say Legolas' stunt of jumping on the horse was "virtually impossible" because lol it was a virtual stunt. All CG according to PJ. Apparently Orlando fell off a horse and cracked a rib and earlier this year they realised they had no shots of him getting on the horse so they did a CG jobbie with him. hehe

(Thats why it kind of defies laws of physics (hey Elves do that ;) ) and his arm looks funny)

[Iarnarwen]

Iar : god this is getting weird! i feel like im talking to myself.;) lol

yeah, actually the digital work wasnt all THAT good..but what was arong with the arm that got ya! the pixels?

well actually Aragorn seems to pull off a few superhuman tricks here and there too..why doesnt anyone complain? :rolleyes: ha..plus, he's human..i thought the whole jumping onto the bridge with Gimli thing was nice, but not physically possible for a mere human..did you see the distance?

but viggo's great..no complaints...good choice for aragorn..i heard Daniel Day Lewis was the initial choice even before Stuart Townsend though..he rejected it..hm...would he have been better? :mmmm:

[Iarfirithwen]

Iar lol I know what you mean.

Leggy's arm. From memory it just looked funny and gave away that it was def CG (even if the physics hadn't). It may bent a little weird or something.

Aragorn: he's allowed superhuman tricks he's not your average human given his blood and not bad for an 87 year old lol
Leggys more than allowed his tricks especially the bow and knives (god I love him holding a bow - total awe) The horse jump was great but the CG kind of funny .. (I would love to know Orlando's response when he first saw it! I wonder if he knew before hand. Would've been funny if he hadn't)

I like Daniel Day Lewis but I think Viggo has an edge thats a benefit here *perfect* Aragorn in my opinion. ;) There's another thread somewhere entitled "forgive me who was originally cast as Aragorn" that might interest you (Might be in the FOTR forum if its not in Osgiliath somewhere)
Iar :grin:
[OMG!! I just had a freaky memory. I'm pretty sure that Iarnarwen was one of the other choices I had. I mean my name came from the Barrow-downs site where they tell you your middle-earth character (I'm meant to be a creepy half-elf lol :rolleyes: ) and then gives you several choices of elven names. I'm pretty damn sure Iarnarwen was another choice because it reminded me of a cousins name. Iar, was Iarfirithwen one of the choices you had ... if thats where your name came from?]

[Iarnarwen]

yeah...i do think viggo did a superb job..just wondered if Daniel Day Lewis would do good...he always does wonders with his characters...hmm..:mmmm: yeah, trust an 87 year old to be jumping around like that! :rolleyes: roflmao just din really think humans were supposed to do taht, perhaps it was more a cinematic feel kinda decision rather than really staying true to Aragorn's character. though it definitely made the show much more interesting..:)
just watched the show for the fifth time..must comment..Elijah's acting as Frodo was commendable..really makes you feel so sad for him...he has such expressive eyes! (ha! Leggy too!

;) )

Iar: REALLY? hmm..thats SUCH a coincidence!!i must go check out if my name gives Iarfirithwen as a choice too....is it convenient for you to leave a link??if my memory serves me right ( prob not though ;) ) i think i was an elf...hopefully....hopefully....lol