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Originally Posted by Imladris

And in the book he was....what? Cardboard? That guy over there who's hair colour is in question? I've read the book many times, I don't feel aquainted with Legolas at all, except as one of the nine.

It seems to me that as the movies progressed that Legolas became less elf prince and more 'straight man' to Gimli. That and he, on most occasions, killed things with a bow. He provides information when only he, Aragorn and Gimli are on the screen as we might believe more easily that he would 'know' things unlike the buffoon Gimli. The book Legolas, to me, was more than that. He makes the comment somewhere regarding 'traveling with you children,' meaning that he is much older than he seems. He also does not sleep as we humans, and can dream while he runs. Later in the books we learn of Legolas's love for the sea.

His stunts in the movie were over the top, yet I hardly think that makes him deserving of the title assasin. Legolas killed people in the book too and he did it well.

Memorable Legolas movie scenes: When, in Moria when we're on the 'stairs' of Khazad-dum, we follow one of the elf's arrows right into the head of an orc. In TTT he slides down the stairs on a shield and also jumps up on a horse in a most interesting fashion. In RotK Legolas kills an oliphaunt single-handedly. I have to really think to produce more scenes easily (and that's hard this time of the day ).

I always thought this was harkening back to the fact that the time of the elves was over as they left into the west...

The extended version is a bit better, but my wife and I (she never read the books) were somewhat confused when we saw Lothlorien. It looked too otherworldly, and when the Fellowship walk up the stairs on the tree in the dark, I wasn't sure what I was to 'see and think.' When I think elves, I think more 'green.'

Brief? The Fellowship didn't do anything in Lothlorien besides rest and the mirror scene with Frodo which I am still iffy about how it was portrayed in the movie. But, you must admit, resting and regaining strength is hardly movie material. In movie form, it's a snore fest.

I understand what you mean, but the theatrical version seemed rushed - 'gotta go!' The extended version was better. Could we have seen Galadriel showing how she keeps Sauron at bay? How about the Fellowship walking through the place while elves do whatever they do? Sing, dance, make rope, magic capes, etc?

Much as I love the elves, the story is of Frodo and the Ring and the other nine are not about them. In an already complicated story with multitudes of characters, I don't think it would have...worked...to do what you suggest...though I am wondering if you could provide an example of what you mean?

Whoa there! See, I'm a critic, and that means that I don't possess a single creative cell in my body...I only quibble and quip about what I don't like and how I could have done it better (without ever offering any positive suggestions or being able to produce any tangible results) . Anyway, in the much maligned drinking scene in TTT, we could have had Legolas remark, "A drinking game? With beer? Like I haven't played one of those before. [rolls eyes, then with a grin] I'll leave you children to it...there wouldn't be any wine, would there?" That's surely not Oscar material, but is there a way that we could show that Legolas isn't only a killer and more sensitive to the world ('evil approaches') but also thousands of years old and in possession of a personality?

Likewise, I would have liked to have seen an overt display of Gimli's strength, just to demonstrate that he's not a bearded armor-wearing axe-wielding hobbit. In the warg scene, we see that Gimli is 'tough-stuff' as he is not crushed by the weight of two wargs and one smelly orc, but I would have liked to have seen something more clear.